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AN AUTHENTIC 



HISTORY OF IRELAND, 



ITS F EO P LE- 



By M, McAlister, 6 



OF COLUMBUS, OHIO. 



L^v- IVVhh^ 



LytuAv\i>^^ , '^ ^ 



OLUMBUS STEAM PRINTING WORKS 

1880. 



T 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by 

M. McALISTER, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



THE LIBRARY 

lof CONGRESS ji 

WASHlHOTONj 



'/^/•/ Q 



PREFACE. 



t HUMBLY inscribe the following Memoir to American read- 
ers, hoping that by its perusal they will understand the real 
nature of Irish history, and how much the Irish people have 
suffered from English misrule, and thereby comprehend the 
secret springs of Irish discontent ; and above all, that they should 
be intimately acquainted with the confiscations, the plunder, 
the robbery, the domestic treachery, the violation of all public 
faith and the sanctity of many treaties ; the wholesale slaughters, 
the planned murders and concerted massacres which have been 
inflicted on my countrymen by the English Government. 

It has pleased English historians to forget all facts recorded in 
Irish history. They have also been pleased to forgive their rulers 
their many crimes; and the Irish people would forgive them like- 
wise, if it were not that much of the worst spirit of the worst days 
still survives. The system of rack-rents and notices to quit is 
still practiced by the Cromwellian landlords. It is true at the 
present time Judges are not bribed with "four shillings in the 
pound," to be paid out of the property in dispute; still the 
Crown Prosecutor in the present day in Ireland can pack a jury 
with as great a certainty of procuring a verdict as his predeces- 
sor, in the reign of that Bible Christian, James the First, could 
have done. There is indeed one amelioration, in our days the 
ears of jurors are not cutoff — whereas, in James' day and reign, 
witnesses and jurors whose evidence oi verdict displeased the 
State (Leland tells us), had their ears cut off in the Star Chamber. 
It may be said almost three hundred years have passed since 
James' day, and that now Ireland is governed justly. But what 
says the truth of history? It tells us the people of Ireland have 



PREFACE. IV 

ever since been persecuted for conscience sake, and have firmly- 
held the faith they preferred. No money could bribe, nor tor- 
ture compel them to forsake the allegiance they owed to their 
You may say, perhaps, that their faith was erroneous, and its 
practice superstition. Suppose it were so? It was by them 
deemed truth, and their attachment to it will not be tarnished 
by any just or generous man. The present generation is not 
answerable for the crimes and follies of those who preceded 
them. The errors of our ancestors are recorded for our instruc- 
tion, and should be avoided, not imitated. Through all the evil 
days of Ireland, the hatred of popery on the one hand, and 
heresy on the other, led men of the purest minds to excuse 
crimes upon which, under other circumstances, they would have 
looked only with horror. It is to be hoped a fair statement of 
these evils will lead to a better and more Christian spirit, and 
that the days when men murdered and robbed each other in the 
name of the Lord have passed away forever. 

M. McALISTER. 
Columbus, Ohio, June 15, 1880. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

(pp. 9— 20.) 
Geographical Description— Resources — England's Irish Policy— Henry VIII— 
Reformation — Cranmer — Queen Elizabeth — Cromwell. 

CHAPTER II. 

(pp. 21 — 80.) 

Death of Queen Catharine— Joy of Anne Eoleyn— St. Patrick's Mission— His 
Death, in 465, at Downpatrick — Albinus his Successor— Death of Henry the 
Eighth 1574— Reign of Edward the Sixth— His Death in 1552, after a Reign 
of Six Years. 

CHAPTER HI. 

(pp. 81 — 120.) 

The Death of Elizabeth— Reign of James the First— The Gunpowder Plot- 
Printing of the Bible. 

CHAPTER IV. 

(pp. 121— 154.) 

Oliver Cromwell's Administration of Affairs in Ireland— He Partially Subjugates 
the People by Inhuman Cruelties. 

CHAPTER V. 

/ (pp. 155—213-) 

IDeath of Charles the Second — His Brother James Proclaimed King, whose Prin- 
l ciples of General Toleration Work His Ruin. 

CHAPTER VI. 

(pp. 214 — 228.) 
Ginkle Renews the Siege of Limerick — Finding it Bravely Defended He Offers 
Favorable Terms of Peace — The Treaty was Violated, however, as soon as it 
was safe to do so. 

CHAPTER VII. 

(pp. 229—361.) 
Famines in Ireland and the Cause Thereof — Landlords — The Tenant System— 
A Review of the Causes That Produce Distress Among the Irish. . 



INTRODUCTION 



'^hFjHERE are few subjects so little understood, save by Ire- 
(b'^ land's faithful children, as the story of Ireland's wrongs. 
It is simply marvelous how little is known of Ireland, or any- 
thing pertaining to Ireland, among the people of the earth. 
The history of every other nation, whether ancient or modern, 
challenges the admiration of the student. But Irish history, so 
replete with heroism, so well calculated to move the soul with 
commiseration for a suffering people, has no claim upon the 
heart or mind. It is, alas ! a mere blank to the stranger. 

This is quite natural. Nations, like individuals, when once 
fallen, are soon forgotten ; and Ireland has, perhaps, iio reason 
to complain of the treatment she receives from a cold and pitiless 
world. A French writer once said: "Nothing is so successful 
as success," and it would seem that alone ensures the admira- 
tion of the world. Such, alas! is history. 

Those sufferings that attract not the stranger have rendered 
her more dear to the hearts of her children. Love of country 
is a sentiment common to all people, yet I' sometimes think no 
people on earth loved their country half so intensely as the Irish 
people loved their native Erin, and if they treasure in their 
hearts the glorious sufferings and heroic deeds of their fathers, 
let not malice chide them, for hope in a joyous future is all they 
have left. And yet, you who are not of them, mark me well, 
theirs is a history for which no people need blush. 

Tell me now, my stranger friend, you who entertain some pity 
for unfortunate Ireland, but have never thought her history 
worth reading, tell me how much the world is indebted to her 
for the sum of all its happiness, its greatest good, civilization 
and Christianity ? • Tell me not that these are the outpourings of 
an enthusiast. Not so; 'tis but a plain, unvarnished truth of 



Vll INTRODUCTION, 

which the half has not been told. They are historical facts 
which no one dare deny who loves the truth. Remember, you 
who are indifferent to Ireland's wrongs and lowly condition of 
to-day, that she, at whom in your merry moods you mock and 
scoff, was once in the van of civilization. Be silent, ye re- 
vilers of the Irish name, and you who so glibly prate of the igno- 
rant Irish, and consider if some of them are so, the laws of 
England made them so. And if you do not know this — if you 
are ignorant of her history — you should at least cultivate and 
practice the charity of silence. Let those who flippantly talk 
of Irish ignorance and poverty learn to know the relations be- 
tween cause and effect. People are but beginning to look at 
Irish history in its true light, and God knows it is time. Speak- 
ing of cause and effect, when I reflect on the laws passed to de- 
grade my countrymen, I often wonder how it is they are a peo- 
ple at all, for these laws were meant not only to degrade the in- 
tellects, but even to take away from them the very form and 
appearance of men. How could Irish genius exist under such 
withering influences, or assert itself in face of such odds? 
And this becomes more appalling when we view the growing 
intellect of the citizens of this free land. Education was long 
forbidden in Ireland under pain of death. Had England been 
thus treated, no Shakespeare or Milton would have appeared to 
immortalize her name. Had your own country, Americans, been 
forced to drink this bitter cup of mental degradation which for 
centuries drenched the lips of Irish genius, your Webster's 
flights of oratory would never have reached the stars, nor the 
philosophy of your Franklin chained and utilized the lightnings 
of heaven. 

In conclusion, I would say to my American friends if I have 
said or withheld anything in this book that may give offence, or 
hurt the feelings of any one, I humbly ask pardon. They will 
also please pardon my many errors in grammar, as I may almost 
say, with my countryman Boles, who said many witty things, 
almost a century ago — 

'' Marvel not if I should stammer, 
• Who never even read a grammar." 



History of Ireland. 



CHAPTER I. 

Greogrdphica,! description — Resources — England's Irish Policy— Eenry 
Eighth— Reformsition—Granmer— Queen Elizabeth— Cromwell. 

jTLRELAND, one of the most considerable islands of Europe, 
(^ is situated in the Atlantic Ocean to the west of England, 
and extends from the 50th to the 55th degree of north latitude, 
and from the 8th to the 12th degree of west longitude. Its 
form is nearly oval. From Fairhead in the north to Mizenhead 
in the south, its length is about three hundred miles ; in breadth 
from east to west, about one hundred and sixty miles, and about 
one thousand four hundred miles in circumference. It contains 
about eighteen millions of acres, English measure. The dis- 
tance of Ireland from England varies according to the irregu- 
larity of the coasts of the two countries : some of the northern 
parts are but fifteen miles from Scotland ; however, the general 
distance from England is forty-five miles, more or less, accord- 
ing to the different positions of the coasts. Ireland is two hun- 
dred and twenty miles distant from France, four hundred and 
forty from Spain, and about one thousand four hundred from 
the most eastern point of America. In the northern parts, the 
longest day is seventeen hours and twelve minutes, and in the 
most southern, sixteen hours and twenty-five minutes. From 
its being situated in the temperate zone, the climate is mild and 
agreeable, having neither extraordinary heat in summer nor 
excessive cold in winter. 



I 



10 Histery of Ireland. 

Ireland is intersected by a great number of rivers and lakes. 
In the Province of Leinster we find the Barrow, which takes 
its rise in the mountains of Sleive- Bloom, in Queens County, 
runs through the counties of Kildare and Carlow, and 
empties into the sea at Waterford. The Nore has its rise in 
Queens County, passes through Kilkenny, and loses itself in the 
Barrow River some miles above Ross. The Boyne, which rises 
in Kings County, runs through Castlejordan, Clonard, Trim, 
and Navan, in East Meath, and falls into the sea at Droghada. 
The Liffey has its rise in the County of Wicklow, and makes a 
circuitous course through the County of Kildare, where many 
small streams unite with it. At Leixlip, within seven miles of 
Dublin, a high cascade is formed, where the waters tumble from 
the top of a sharp rock, which is called the Salmon's Leap. 
The country people say that when the salmon strives to re- 
ascend the river at that place, it leaps with its tail between its 
teeth, in order to pass the rock, but if it fails in the attempt, it 
is caught in baskets placed at the bottom of the rock by 
the fishermen. The Liffey passes through Lucan, and, after 
forming some smaller cascades in its course, empties into the 
sea at Dublin. The Slaney takes its rise in the County of 
Wicklow, and, after running through Baltinglass and Ennis- 
corthy, falls into the sea at Wixford. 

The chief rivers of Ulster are : The Ba.nn, which rises in the 
County of Down, and runs through the great lake called 
Lough Neah, having the County Antrim on the right and 
Derry on the left, passes through Colerain, and falls into 
the ocean near the Giant's Causeway. This river is one 
of the best in Europe for its fisheries. The River Laggan, 
in the County Down, rises in the Mourne Mountains, passes 
through Dromore, Lisburne, and Belfast, and falls into Carrick- 
fergus Bay. The Newry, after having served for limits to 
the counties of Armagh and Down, falls into the sea at 
Carlingford. The Morne flows from the County Tyrone, and 
being joined by the Derg and the Finn, which have their source 
from two lakes of the same name in the County of Donegall, 
running in the same channel, and after crossing County Derry, 



History of Ireland. 11 

fall into Lough Foyle, and from thence into the ocean. The 
Earn, the source of which is on the borders of the counties of 
Longford and Cavan, crosses the latter, and falls into a lake of 
the same name, in the County of Farmannagh, and flows from 
thence by Ballyshannon into the Atlantic. The Swilley, in 
Donegall, falls into a lake of the same name, and from thence 
to the sea. The Shannon is the chief river, not only of Con- 
naught, but of all Ireland, and deserves to be classed among the 
first rivers of Europe. It has its source in the mountains of 
the County Leitrim. Its course from where it rises to its mouth 
is about one hundred and fifty miles. Many other rivers fall 
into it, and it forms several very considerable lakes. The other 
rivers of Connaught are not large. The Moy, in the County 
of Mayo, falls into the ocean at Killala, having most of the 
County of Sligo on its right bank, and Tiramalgad in Mayo on 
its left. The river Suck runs between the counties of Ross- 
common and Galway, and loses itself in the Shannon near 
Clonfert. 

The rivers in the Province of Munster are : The Suir, which 
takes its rise in the county of Tipperary, passes through 
Thurles, Cashell, Clonmell, Carrick, and Waterford, and then 
flows with the Barrow into the sea. Avoin More, (in English, 
" Blackwater, ") has its source in the County Kerry, passing 
through Mallow and Lismore, falls into the sea at Youghal. 
The rivers Lee and Bandon, in the County of Cork, discharge 
themselves into the sea, one at Queenstown, the other at Kin- 
sale. The Leane and Cashon, in the County of Kerry, empty 
themselves into the ocean, the first in the Bay of Dingle, the 
other at the mouth of the Shannon. 

The most considerable lakes of Ireland are the following : 
Lough Neah (lough signifies lake) is thirty miles long and fifteen 
broad. Its waters are celebrated for the quality they possess of 
changing wood into stone. Lough Foyle and Lough Earne, 
these are joined by a canal ; Lough Swilley and Strangford, in 
the Province of Ulster. The most considerable lakes of Con- 
naught are Loughs Corrib, Mask, Conn, Ree, Bofin, and Allen. 
In the Shannon, Loughs Gard, Arrow, and Rea, The lakes in 



12 History of Ireland. 

Munster are called Ogram, Oulan, Lene, and Derg. The 
famous lakes of Killarney are also in Munster. There are in 
Westmeath, Loughs Ennil, Hoyle, Derevarah, etc. 

In Ireland, we meet likewise with mountains, promontories, 
and capes. The highest mountains, called the Curlews, are in 
the County of Wicklow ; those in Queens County are Sleive- 
Bloom, and in the County Mayo, the mountains of Cruachan. 
There are many bogs in Ireland, some of them covering thou- 
sands of acres. In those the people cut turf with narrow spades 
for fuel. Wheat, rye, barley, and oats grow in Ireland in 
abundance. Its pastu^s are considered the best in Europe, 
both in quality and quantity. Fruit trees thrive well in Ireland, 
such as pear, apple, cherry, plum, nuts, gooseberries, etc. 
Ireland is rich in her herds of oxen and flocks of sheep, goats 
and swine. The woods with which that country was formerly 
covered, fed great numbers of deer. There are also foxes, badg- 
ers and other animals. The plains and bogs of Ireland are full 
of all kinds of game, hares, rabbits, pheasants, partridges, wood- 
cocks, snipes, plovers, quails, water hens, wild ducks and geese 
in abundance, as well as every species of tame fowl. There is 
also a wild bird on the island that resembles the pheasant, called, 
in Irish, keark frihy ; in English, heath hen. If we search 
into the bowels of the earth, rich treasures will be found in 
Ireland. Besides mines of gold and silver, quicksilver, tin, lead, 
copper, alum, sulphur, antimony and iron are found there in 
large quantities. 

However, the English Government, having made it part of 
their policy to keep the Irish in subjection and dependence, 
have always opposed the working of their mines. There are 
also coal mines, alabaster, marble of several kinds, red, black 
and white ; also gray marble, which becomes azure when pol- 
ished. The houses of Kilkenny are built of this kind, and the 
streets paved with it. 

The chief articles of export are cattle, sheep, swine, leather, 
wool, tallow, butter, cheese, salt, linen cloth, lead, tin, copper 
and iron. The island produces almost everything useful, and 
could do well without the aid of any other country. 



History of Trelmid. 13 

The situation of Ireland for trade with other nations is also 
favorable. Her harbors are more numerous and more con- 
venient than those of England. The}' were formerly frequented 
by the Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Spaniards. Camden 
says, Ireland is to be admired both for its fertility and the advan- 
tageous situation of her seaports. Still, the commerce of the 
country is inconsiderable, owing to the restrictions imposed 
upon her by England. By a peculiar blessing, Ireland is en- 
tirely exempt from all venomous reptiles. Some serpents, 
adders, lizards and spiders are said to be seen there, but by 
a strange singularity they have not the poisonous quality insep- 
arable from their natures in other countries. 

RESOURCES. 

In the bogs of Ireland, whole trees are often found lying 
horizontally many feet under the surface, and perfectly sound. 
These have probably been swept there by the waters of the 
deluge, which had torn them from their roots; or may probably 
have been felled in the valleys by the Normans or Danes to impede 
the Irish in coming to attack them, a stratagem of war practiced 
even to this day. These trees are sometimes seen burned at 
the thick end, no doubt because the barbarians, not having 
axes, made use of fire to fell them. The matter whereof these 
bogs are composed is an accumulation of dried herbs, hay, 
heath, roots, and other things produced by stagnant waters, and 
forms in its mixed state one spongy substance, which easily 
admits the water and covers altogether, in course of time, 
those trees that had contributed to its growth. Some of these 
bogs are twenty feet deep from their surface to the bottom, 
which is a kind of potter's cla}- or sand. The only benefit 
derived from the bogs in Ireland is the turf used for fuel, 

WONDERS. 

The wonders of two celebrated lakes in Ireland, Lough 
Neagh and Lough Lene, or the lakes of Killarney, are well 
known to the learned, and all who have traveled in Ireland. 
Lough Neagh, situated in the north, is famous for its petrifying 



14 History of Ireland. 

qualities, which changes wood into stone. Lough Lene is not 
less remarkable than Lough Neagh. It lies in the southern 
extremity of the island, in the County of Kerry. It is divided 
into the upper, middle and lower lakes, and contains in the 
whole about three thousand square acres. It is bounded south 
and east by the Mangerton and Turk mountains ; west, by 
Glena ; to the north, is a beautiful plain, ornamented by 
beautiful country seats, and on the northeast is the town of 
Killarney. These mountains are covered from the base to the 
top with the Oak, Yew-tree, Holly and Arbutus, which represent 
an agreeable variety of colors, forming an amphitheatre, which 
rival in winter the charms of the spring. Some cascades are 
formed by the falling of the waters from the summit of these 
mountains, particularly from Mangerton, whose murmurs, being 
repeated by echoes, add still more to the charms of the spot. 
On the top of this mountain is a lake, the depth of which is not 
known. It is called the "Devil's Punch Bowl." It frequently 
overflows and rolls down in frightful torrents. These lakes 
contain several islands, which resemble so many gardens. The 
Arbutus takes root among the rocks of marble in the midst of 
its waters. Nenius says, in his treatise upon the Avonders of 
Ireland, that there are mines of tin, iron, lead and copper in 
the immediate vicinity of these lakes. The Giant's Cause- 
way, in the north of Ireland, is another wonder that merits the 
attention of the curious. This Causeway, which is in the form 
of a triangle, extends from the foot of a mountain into the sea 
to a considerable distance. Its apparent length, when seen 
at ebb tide, is about six hundred feet. It consists of many 
thousand pillars, which are pentagonal, hexagonal and heptag- 
onal, but irregular, as there are few of them of which the sides 
are equally broad ; their size is not uniformly the same, varying 
from fifteen to twenty-six inches in diameter, and in general not 
more than twenty. All these pillars touch one another with 
equal sides, which are so close that the joints can scarcely be 
seen ; they are not equally high ; the}^ sometimes form a smooth 
surface, and are sometimes unequal. None of these pillars are 
of a single piece, but are composed of many pieces, from one to 



History of Ireland. 15 

three feet high ; and what is still more singular, these pieces 
are not joined by plain surfaces, being set one into the other by 
concave and convex outsides, highly polished. There are some 
places where this colonnade is elevated many feet above the earth, 
but its depth is not known. People have dug down at the 
foot of the columns for many feet, and it was found to be the 
same all through. The stone, as to substance, is very hard and 
admits of no moisture. When broken, it is found to have a fine 
and shining grain. It is heavier than other kinds of stone, 
resists tools of the best temper, and of course cannot be cut, 
still it dissolves in the fire. One part of the Causeway is com- 
posed of fifty pillars ; the middle one is forty feet high, the 
others on the right and left diminish like the pipes of an organ. 
This is why the inhabitants have given it the name of the 
organ. Is the Giant's Causeway a work of nature or art ? This 
is a question of controversy among the learned of England and 
Ireland. It is clear that the joining of the stones which com- 
pose these pillars was made by instruments that are unknown 
to us, if works of art. 

ANCIENT CHARACTER. 

An idea of the history of Ireland must be interesting to such 
as are desirous of exploring its antiquities. The situation of 
the island having rendered it difficult of access to invaders, her 
inhabitants lived during many ages free from all insults from 
their neighbors. They cultivated the arts, sciences and letters, 
which they had borrowed from the most polished people of 
their times, the Egyptians and Phoenicians ; and the patronage 
which their princes afforded to learning, and the esteem in which 
they held those who made a profession of it, contributed much 
to its advancement. Learning was not the sole occupation of 
the ancient Irish. Without mentioning their domestic wars, 
they often measured arms, not only with the Picts, the Britons 
and the native islanders, but with the Romans themselves, who 
were then the masters of the world. The warlike character ot 
the Irish appeared again in the long wars against the Danes, 
which lasted with doubtful success from the beginning of the 



16 History of Ireland. 

ninth to the middle of the tenth century, when those barbarians 
were totally defeated at Clontarf by the valiant Brian Boroimhe, 
the King of the Island. 

In the twelfth century, the succession to the throne of Ireland 
being interrupted, was a favorable circumstance to the ambition 
and cupidity of the English, who, having put an end to the 
Irish monarchy, and wishing to give a color of justice to their 
usurpation, have, without any other title than a fictitious brief 
of Adrian the Fourth and the right of the strongest, represented 
the Irish as savages, who never obeyed the laws, and made this a 
pretext for stripping them of their properties. It is but reason- 
able that the American reader should distrust all that has 
appeared on the affairs of Ireland, from the pens of English 
authors and from those who have followed in their footsteps. 
It is a rare virtue in an enemy to render justice to his adversary, 
and there are none from whom we could less expect it than the 
English. Their natural presumption, inflamed by success, has 
caused them to act at all times as if they were exempt from 
following the ordinary rules of justice and humanity. The same 
motives which actuated Froude in 1870, have guided the pens 
of the English historians since the so-called Reformation ; and 
because the Irish would not renounce the religion of their fore- 
fathers, their attachment to the primitive faith has been made a 
pretext for robbing them of the patrimony of their ancestors. 
When the strong oppress the weak, it is easy to find a cause 
for the oppression and give it an appearance of justice. 

The inhabitants of Ireland are generally tall and well made. 
The exercises which tend to render the body vigorous, were at 
all times practiced among therh. Hunting, horse-racing, foot- 
racing, wrestling and other like exercises still form their usual 
amusements. Goode, an Englishman who wrote in the six- 
teenth century, after having been many years in Ireland, gives 
the following description of its inhabitants : ' ' They are a 
nation," he says, "to be praised for their strength, and particu- 
larly for the activity of their bodies, and for a greatness of soul. 
They are witty and warlike ; prodigal of life ; hardy in bearing 
fatigues, cold and hunger ; prone to loose pleasures ; courteous 



History of Ireland. 17 

and kind to strangers ; constant in love, hating also ; ready to 
forgive ; too credulous ; fond of glory, and quick to resist inju- 
ries. " Stainhurst says the Irish are the most patient in fatigue, 
the most warlike ; rarely do they suffer themselves to be cast 
down, even in their heaviest affliction. There seems to be little 
doubt that the first inhabitants of Ireland were part of the Celtic 
stock which peopled France and Spain. The language and the 
ancient monuments which the first tribes who came from Asia 
into Europe are known to have carried with them, sufficiently 
attest the origin of her people. It is known to the readers of 
history that the Romans were in possession of England four 
hundred years without any of them having been known to have 
been in Ireland. But there exists besides strong evidence of 
an early intercourse between Spain and Ireland, in the historical 
traditions of the two countries, also in her early intercourse 
with the Phoenicians, through whom alone a secluded island in 
the Atlantic could have been so well known to the world. 

The history of Ireland since the English invasion has been 
tyranny on the part of England and discontent on the part of 
Ireland. Even now, after a lapse of seven centuries, the hatred 
of foreign rule remains as strong as at the first arrival of the 
invaders. The laws are viewed as if made for the benefit of the 
ruling party and not for the whole people. The several English- 
men who have written a history of Ireland are unanimous on 
one principle, each maintaining there was nothing wrong on the 
the side of England, and nothing right on the side of Ireland. 
They never mention the indolence and ignorance of the clergy 
sent over by 

HENRY EIGHTH AND ELIZABETH, 

nor the ferocious fanaticism of Cromwell's Puritans and the 
intolerance of their successors, nor yet of the bad faith and 
cruel laws of William of Orange and his followers. And what 
can fall more fairly within the province of history than to expose 
to the world's light the causes of such long calamity? What 
is it that, like a fatal spell, still mars the prosperity of that fair 
island which seems designed by the Creator for the seat of more - 



^ 



18 History of Ireland. 

than mortal happiness, and yet remains wretched ? Why, com- 
merce flies these shores whose capes and bold outstretching 
headlands invite the traffic of the world, and beckon the mariner 
of every clime to come within the hospitable shelter of their 
protecting arms and anchor on the golden sands, or ride secure 
upon the deep, clear \\'aters that lie within them. All kno\N' 
the reason — 

ENGLISH MISRULE. 

And when it is considered in what school of cruelty and corrup- 
tion, and by what examples of iniquity, the manners of the Irish 
have been formed, their very turbulence will be found allied to 
the highest virtues ; and it is less wonderful that they have 
vices than that they have still preserved so many virtues. 
Charles Fox said in the British Parliament, " I love the Irish. 
What they have of good is from themselves ; what they have of 
bad is from you." Even their turbulence speaks better for 
them than if they had sunk under oppression to that apathy to 
which so great a portion of the human race have been reduced. 
What have their rebellions been but counter projects to tyranny, 
or their opposition to British laws but conflicts with their 
enemies ? Are they ignorant ? See the cruel statutes that have 
made them so. There was a law of discovery by which a man 
who betrayed the confidence of his Catholic neighbor, possessed 
himself of his estate. There was a law which disabled the 
Catholic father to be guardian to his own child, or to educate 
him. There was a law which made the disobedience and apos- 
tacy of the Catholic child the means whereby to disinherit his 
father. There was a law for robbing a Catholic of his horse on 
the highway or at home if, when questioned, he confessed his 
faith. There was a law to prevent the education of Catholic 
children, and to punish Catholic teachers as convicts ; to banish 
the Catholic clergy, and to hang them if they returned. 

Much has been lost to science by the willful destruction of 
Irish manuscripts by the English and the discouragements 
thrown upon the study of the language, which is now written 
and spoken without adulteration as it was written and spoken 



History of B'sland. 19 

three thousand years ago. This language, too, has been traced 
by its affinities to that in which the Word of God was deHvered 
to Moses and the prophets. The antiquities of Ireland are of 
high interest to the speculative inquirer, but have no applica- 
tion to her present helpless condition. The people of Ireland 
have been invaded without provocation ; treated as enemies, 
though willing to be friends; held as aliens in their native country; 
punished by the laws of war and peace, at the same time, death 
by the sword and forfeiture by the law. All this was hard 
enough, but to be still put in the wrong, as though they, and 
not their accusers, w^ere the guilty party, was what human 
nature could not and manhood never should endure. 

No doubt it will be said, why dwell upon these scenes of discord 
and revive the many WTongs that can have no remedy ? And 
surely, if it were for no other purpose than to stir up the embers 
and arouse the flame that has before burned fiercely, it would be 
wrong, but there is more safety in truth than concealment. And 
there is no good cause why torturers should sleep on beds of 
down. It is for those who yet hold Ireland in bondage to relax 
their grasp, or the strife, though unequal, must be eternal. 
To forgive injuries is Godlike, but human nature has its princi- 
ples stamped by the Creator, who has implanted passions in the 
souls of men, some of which it is the office of reason and 
religion to watch over and restrain ; some that exalt and dignify, 
such as the love of truth, the love of freedom, and the love of 
country. Till these are extinguished in the human heart, and 
man made brute, he will seek for justice, right and independence 
by the means wuthin his reach, let statesmen, lawyers or 
preachers say what they may. Doubtless, to bury vengeance 
is a virtue, but there is no precept, human or divine, which bids 
us bury truth, or bids us blindly pay to sinful man that 
obedience due to God alone. It is well known to readers of 
history that the 

REFORMATION 

was the work of King Henry the Eighth, and were it not that 
Henry's apostacy had much to do with Irish history, his 



20 History of Ireland. 

many crimes had better be unnoticed. What I have to write of 

CRANMER 

and others concerned in this transaction is calculated to make 
us turn from the page and resolve to read no farther, but we 
must not give way to these feelings if we have a mind to know 
why the people of Ireland took so little stock in what is known 
as the Reformation. 

When Henry first sought a divorce from the Pope, he had 
been keeping Anne Boleyn about three years. When she 
was about to become a mother, a private marriage took place, 
and as her pregnancy could not be disguised, it was necessary 
to avow that marriage and hurry up the divorce, for it would 
seem bad, even among "reformation" people, for their King 
to have two wives at once, especially as he was supreme head 
of their Church. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, a crea- 
ture of Henry's, now wrote him a letter, begging him, for the 
safety of his royal soul, to grant him permission to try the 
divorce case. Now this hypocrite knew, and the King knew 
he knew, that he and Anne had been secretly married three 
months before. Without delay, Henry, as head of the Church, 
granted Cranmer permission to try the case, who summoned 
Queen Catharine to appear before him, which citation she 
treated with the scorn it deserved. He then pronounced sen- 
tence against the Queen, declaring her marriage with the King 
null and void. Having done so, he closed his farcical court. 
This hypocrite now besought the King to submit to the will of 
God, as declared to him by the voice of the Church of England. 
As a matter of course Henry submitted, and then Cranmer 
held another court, and declared the King had been lawfully 
married to Anne Boleyn, and that he now confirmed that mar- 
riage. Three months after Cranmer finished this farce, Anne 
gave birth to a daughter, who was afterwards 

QUEEN ELIZABETH. 

And only two years after she was sent to prison, where she 
was accused and found guilty of adultery with several persons, 



History of Ireland. 21 

and incest with her brother George. Thomas Boleyn, her sup- 
posed father, was one of the Judges who tried the case, and the 
first to pronounce her guilty. But before Anne was executed, 
Cranmer had another tough job to perform. The King, who 
never did things by halves, ordered the Archbishop to divorce 
him from Anne. Cranmer cited them both to appear be- 
fore him, and show cause why they should not be separated for 
the salvation of their souls, as they were living in adultery. 
They were soon to be separated effectually ; for this was on the 
17th of May, and Anne, who was condemned to death on the 
1 5th, was to be executed on the 19th. The King and Anne both 
were represented in this court by their attorneys ; and having 
heard both, Cranmer wound up this blasphemous farce by pro- 
nouncing "in the name of Christ, that the marriage was, and 
had alw^ays been, null and void." Anne was beheaded next 
day, and the day after her brother George and four others — 
George for incest with her, and the others for adultery. The 
day she was beheaded, Henry married Jane Seymour, who, 
six months after, gave birth to a son, who was afterwards King 
Edward the Sixth. This was the only one of Henry's wives 
who died a Queen ; she died the day of Edward's birth. After 
her death, in 1537, Henry lost no time in hunting up another 
wife. He soon found a mate in Anne, sister to the Duke of 
Cleves. Six months after the marriage, Cranmer, who had 
divorced Henry from two wives already, put his irons into the 
fire again, and this time turned out as neat a piece of work as 
ever came from the famous shops of the " Reformation." He 
proclaimed the King and Queen both at liberty to marry again ; 
and Henry having another young and handsome wife in his eye, 
was married by Cranmer next day. The new Queen, whose 
name was Kate Howard, was as zealous in the cause of the 
"Reformation " as Anne Boleyn had been, and the fate of both 
these reformers was equally sad. Henry had her arrested a 
few months after her marriage. She was convicted of unchas- 
tity before, and adultery after her marriage, and condemned to 
be beheaded, with Denham and Colpepper, the two accom- 
plices in her guilt. On the scaffold she admitted her guilt be- 



22 History of Ireland. 

fore her marriage, but maintained her innocence afterwards. 
This gave rise to an act of ParHament, forbidding, under pain 
of high treason, any woman who was not a virgin, from marry- 
ing the King, without first declaring the fact. Henry now for 
the last time took another wife, but this time none would risk 
his laws but a widow, and she narrowly escaped the fate of the 
other five. Henry spent his last years in ordering executions 
and confiscations, and he died before he was aware of his con- 
dition, leaving many death warrants unsigned for want of time. 
Although Henry, by his ferocity, succeeded in almost driving 
the Catholics out of England, he did not live to systemize 
Protestantism ; this was done, however, by his harlot daughter 
Elizabeth, who, by taking a little from every innovator of her 
day, got up the "Thirty-nine Articles." 'Tis true, Cranmer, 
during Henry's reign, had written the Book of Common Prayer, 
and done much toward forwarding the Reformation ; still to 
Elizabeth is due the honor, if any, of perfecting it and reducing 
it to system. Had death snatched Henry away in his 
bright and youthful days, his loss would have been lamented 
as a national calamity. But amidst the dissipation of a gay and 
splendid court, the reins with which he had bridled his passions 
were gradually loosed until the Avise and Christian King sunk 
into the base slave of sensual pleasures. Everything must now 
bend to his stubborn will. Public decency must be set aside. 
A marriage of twenty years' standing dissolved without cause, 
and another contracted before the divorce can in any way, right 
or wrong, be procured. And because the bishop of Rome, 
the common father of the faithful, will not sanction his impure 
passions, and, in violation of all justice, set him at liberty 
from his lawful wife, that he may marry another more con- 
genial to his wishes, he will trample upon the faith of his peo- 
ple, change their religion to one more suitable to his own cor- 
rupted heart, and, with threats of immediate death to every 
one that should dare to impugn his measures, make himself 
supreme head of the Church. The Parliament passed an act in 
the following words: " Be it enacted by the authority of the 
present Parliament, that the King, our sovereign lord, his heirs 



History of Ireland. 23 

and successors, Kings of this realm, shall be taken, accepted, 
and reputed the only supreme head, on earth, of the Church of 
England, and shall have and enjoy, annexed and united to the 
imperial crown of this realm, as well the title and style thereof, 
as all honors, dignities and profits. And that our said sover- 
eign lord, his heirs and successors, Kings of this realm, shall 
have full power and authority, from time to time, to visit, re- 
press, redress, reform, order, correct, restrain and amend all 
such errors, heresies, whatever they be, which by spiritual au- 
thority may lawfully be reformed, or amended most to the 
pleasure of Almighty God, the increase of virtue in Christ's 
religion, and for the conservation of the peace, unity, and tran- 
quility of this realm, and usage, custom, foreign laws, or au- 
thority, prescription, or any thing or things to the contrary not- 
withstanding. " — [Stat. 26, H. viii., chap. i. 

The name given to this Parliament institution, for the trans- 
action of a religious business, is the Church of England, by 
law established. Moriarty, a Catholic, says : ' ' In the year 
1534, King Henry the Eighth and his Parliament, not Christ 
nor any of his Apostles, nor Apostle successors, but Henry and 
hSs Parliament, marked out the boundary and laid the founda- 
tfon-stone of the new Church of England. Here, then, is a no- 
torious fact, which stands recorded on the statute book to this 
day." 

Had the so-called reformation of religion been confined to 
England alone, this long digression might appear foreign to the 
history of Ireland ; but as its effects have been but too sensibly 
felt in Ireland, it has been thought necessary to reveal its 
source, and make the principal actors in it known to the world, 
as also to show why the clergy and people of Ireland held out 
so nobly against what conscience told them was wrong. 

It was at this time that the world deplored the fate of two 
men in England, most illustrious for their learning and piety, 
Thomas More, Lord-Chancellor, and Fisher, Bishop of Roch- 
ester. Burnett himself bewails their death, and considers their 
tragical end as a stain upon the life of Henry. They were the 



24 History of Ireland. 

two most distinguished victims of the new ecclesiastical suprem- 
acy. When More was urged to acknowledge it, he made the 
following noble reply : " That were he alone against the whole 
Parliament, he would have a diffidence in himself; but now, 
though the Parliament of England were opposed to him, the 
whole Church, that great council of Christians, were in his fa- 
vor. " Fisher's end was no less edifying, or less Christian-like. 
This was the commencement of the persecution carried on 
against all those who refused to swear to support Henry's su- 
premacy. Burnett says Henry was not naturally prone to 
cruelty — that he reigned twenty-five years without condemning 
any one to death, except two men, for whose punishment he 
cannot be reproached ; but after his divorce, and rupture with 
the Church, he set no bounds to his cruelty. Everything was 
now in confusion in England. The death of Fisher and More, 
and many other executions, filled every mind with horror. The 
people all took the oath acknowledging Henry's supremacy, no 
one daring to oppose it. Henry now made 

CROMWELL HIS VlCAR-GENERAL. 

Cromwell was the son of a blacksmith, and not liking the 
trade, enlisted as a soldier. He afterwards was a servant to 

CARDINAL WOLSEY, 

through whose influence he became a member of Parliament. 
Having thus advanced himself at court, he made Henry's inclin- 
ations his whole study, in order to flatter him in every way. 
Discovering that Henry was extravagant, and that his revenues 
were not equal to his expenses, he advised him to take posses- 
sion of the Religious Houses. This advice was gratifying to 
the King, who thought that he who gave it would be the fittest 
person to carry it out. For this purpose he made Cromwell 
Inspector-General of all the Convents and Religious Houses in 
England, notwithstanding he was an ignorant layman. Crom- 
well was a Lutheran and a friend of Cranmer's, and Anne Boleyn, 
Henry's mistress, supported them with all her influence. 
" Birds of a feather," etc. 



History of Ireland. 25 

Cromwell, in the first year he held office, recommended the 
suppression of three hundred and seventy-six Religious Houses, 
the lands and revenues of which were granted to the King by 
an act of Parliament. All good men exclaimed against this sac- 
riligious depredation of the property dedicated to God. This 
was one of the first effects of the King's supremacy, who made 
himself head of the Church to plunder it with impunity. 

This year, 1536, Thomas Brown was consecrated by Cran- 
mer Archbishop of Dublin. He was one of the Commission- 
ers appointed by Henry the Eighth to supersede the Pope's 
authority in Ireland, and to establish the ecclesiastical supremacy 
of the King. The letter of this Prelate to the Vicar-General, 
quoted by Cox, is as follows : 

"My Lord, having, as one of the Commissioners of his 
Highness the King, received your commands, I have endeav- 
ored, even at the hazard of my life, to reduce the nobility in 
this country to obedience, by acknowledging his Highness as 
supreme, both in spiritual and temporal affairs ; but I experi- 
ence many difficulties, particularly from my brother of Armagh, 
who has gained over the suffragans and clergy under his juris- 
diction. He has preached to them, and exhorted all against 
acknowledging the supremacy of his Highness." 

He adds that the Archbishop and clergy of Armagh had 
already sent two messages to the Pope ; that it was essential to 
inform his Highness of the necessity of convening a Parlia- 
ment in Ireland to have the act of supremacy passed, as little 
regard was paid to the commissions sent in the name of his 
Highness ; and concludes by saying that he feared O'Neill had 
received orders from the Pope to oppose the authority of his 
Highness, as very many among the inhabitants of the country 
were attached to his party. It appears that this letter made 
some impression on the court of London, as the King gave or- 
ders to convene a Parliament in the month of May, which was 
adjourned to Kilkenny, thence to Cashell, afterwards to Limer- 
ick, and lastly to Dublin. The following were the principal 
statutes enacted by this Parliament : The marriage of Henry 
with Catharine, null ; the divorce by Cranmer, as well as the ' 



26 History of Ireland. 

King's marriage with Anne Boleyn, was declared to be valid ; 
the succession to the throne was secured to the heirs, male, 
who should be born of this or any other marriage ; and in case of 
there being no male heirs, to the females, beginning with Eliz- 
abeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn ; and those who might, by 
writing or otherwise, oppose this marriage, or these regula- 
tions for the succession of the crown, should, it was enacted, be 
guilty of high treason. A total silence on these subjects was 
enjoined upon all, and an oath to this effect ordered to be taken 
by all the King's subjects in Ireland. 

The Earl of Kildare was declared a traitor by this act ; also 
Sir John and Sir Oliver Fitzgerald, uncles of the Earl ; Sir 
Walter Delahide, of Kildare ; John Burnell ; Richard Walsh, 
rector of Loughscudy; Charles Reynolds, and other accom- 
plices of Kildare, were convicted of high treason, and all their 
estates confiscated to the King's use. The Parliament which 
fabricated the above-named laws was the Parliament of the 
English province, and not that of all Ireland. It was composed 
wholly of Englishmen by birth or origin ; the ancient Irish 
had no seats in it. They were strongly attached to the religion 
of their ancestors, and it is probable they would all have con- 
tinued so had they remained a free people. At this time John 
Traverse published a book in Dublin in defense of the Pope's 
supremacy. He was summoned to appear before the judges, 
and, having confessed the deed, he was condemned to have his 
fingers cut off and thrown into the fire. 



CHAPTER II 



Desith of Queen Gatlmrine—Joy of Anne Boleyn— Saint Patrick's 
Mission— His BeUb in 465 at DownpsLtrick—Albinus his Suc- 
cessor— death of Eenry the Eighth 1574— Reign of Edward the 
Sixth— His Death in 1552, after a Reign of Six Tears. 



/^UEEN CATHARINE resided in Huntington, in a very 
C<C unhealthy situation. Sanders says the title of Queen was 
not only wrested from her, but her servants were constrained by 
oath to address her by no other title than that of princess-dowager. 
She beheld with grief an old man, John Forest, her confessor, 
suffer death in her cause, together with thirty-five others of the 
same order. She was aware, too, of the tragical ends of Fisher, 
More and several others who were sacrificed on her account ; so 
not being able to bear up against such afflictions, she fell into a 
decline. Finding her end approaching, she wrote the following 
letter to the King : 

" My very dear Lord, King and Husband : — As the hour of 
death is now approaching, my love for you influences me to 
forewarn you to prefer your salvation to all the perishable 
things of this world. I heartily forgive you all the past, and 
pray that the Lord may also forgive you. I recommend our 
daughter Mary to your particular care, and beseech you to act 
with all the tenderness of a father toward her. I beseech you, 
likewise, to give my three maids a marriage portion, and to my 
other servants a year's wages, besides what is already due them, 
to secure them against want. Lastly, I declare it to be my 
desire to see you in preference to anything in this world. Fare- 
well." 

On reading the above letter, Henry could not refrain from 



28 History of Ireland. \ 

tears, notwithstanding the obduracy of his heart ; and having 
been informed of her death a few days afterwards, he ordered 
his household to put on mourning. Anne Boleyn, as a mark of 
her joy, had herself and attendants all dressed in yellow ; but 
her joy was soon changed into sorrow, for in a short time after 
this she was delivered of an abortion. 

The Parliament in Dublin having regulated the affairs of 
state, turned their thoughts to those of religion. In imitation 
of the English Parliament, they confirmed Henry the Eighth 
and his successors on the throne in the title of Supreme Head 
of the Church in Ireland, with the power of correcting and re- 
forming errors in religion. They prohibited all further appeals 
being made to Rome, under pains and penalties ; and also 
that the clergy should pay the first fruits of their living to the 
King. Penalties were declared against those who would 
acknowledge the Pope's authority ; all persons were required to 
take the oath to support the King's supremacy, and their refusal 
to do so was to be considered high treason. This act met 
many opponents among the clergy, but the following speech of 
Brown, Henry's Archbishop of Dublin, caused many of them to 
take it : 

' ' My brethren, in obeying your King, you imitate your Sa- 
vior Jesus Christ, who paid tribute to Caesar, who was not a 
Christian ; whereas your prince is both a King and a Christian, 
so that I make no scruple of acknowledging his Highness the 
King to be supreme head of the church, both in England and 
Ireland, and that he who refuses to submit as I do to this law, 
is not a faithful subject to the King. " The discriminating reader 
will judge of this prelate's reasoning. 

Ware says the principal Irish chieftains, seeing the blows 
that were aimed against their religion and liberty, determined 
to make an effort in favor of both. For this purpose O'Neill, 
O'Brien, O'Donnell and O'Conner, formed a league, and agreed 
to meet in the month of July, at Fro we in Westmeath, to 
deliberate on what measures they should adopt for the defense of 
their religion and country. But Brereton having marched to 



History of Ireland. 29 

attack them with eight thousand troops and artillery, they 
thought it prudent to withdraw for the time. 

Money was coined at this time in Ireland, by orders of the 
King — four-penny, two-penny and penny pieces. These were 
afterwards prohibited under pain of confiscation and fine. Sir 
William Darcy, author of a work on the causes and ruin of Ire- 
land, died this year, 1540. He was a wise and learned man, and 
very zealous for the interest of Ireland. He was greatly 
regretted. 

Taylor, who is a Protestant, says much Christian kindness 
was preserved among the lower ranks of the Irish clergy. They 
lived on terms of familiar interaourse with their flocks, imbibed 
many of their prejudices, and shared in most of their sufferings. 
They disliked the Reformation, because it was introduced by 
people whose conduct had given good reason for being esteemed 
oppressors. They were disgusted at the marvelous celerity with 
which the English changed creeds, as if they were matters in 
which it was only necessary to follow the example of the King. 
Whether this influential body could have been induced to sup- 
port the new system, if measures had been taken to conciliate 
their affections, is uncertain. The experiment was never tried. 
They were not even asked to change their opinions, but were 
unceremoniously driven from their churches and their places 
filled by strangers, the refuse of the English Church. The con- 
version of the people was seemingly not meditated by those 
who patronized the Reformation in Ireland. Compulsion was 
the only means of diffusing the new doctrine which they could 
understand ; and their unsparing use of it soon made the name 
of Protestantism detested. The very first and most essential 
part of Protestant discipline was neglected. The boast of the 
Reformers was that the prayers being no longer read in an un- 
known tongue, all the congregation might join with heart and 
spirit in the worship. But though it was notorious that no 
language but Irish was known beyond the walls of Dublin, no 
provision was made for preaching in the only language known 
to the great majority of the people. In the act that established 
the reformed liturgy, its framers, with whimsical inconsistency, 



30 History of Ireland. 

introduced a clause that the service might be performed in 
Latin where an English reader could not be found. Of English 
and Latin, the people being equally ignorant, preferred that 
which was sanctioned by old associations. With greater rea- 
son, they adhered to a clergy who understood their language, 
felt for their wants and sympathized with their feelings, in pref- 
erence to a host of foreigners, whom they held as enemies, and 
by whom they were looked upon as inferiors. 

The clergymen imported into Ireland by the government, 
were, for the most part, needy adventurers, as poor in reputation 
as they were in purse. They were the refuse of the English 
Church, and were sent over like a band of paupers to Ireland. A 
few made some exertion to discharge their duty, but the differ- 
ence of language was a stumbling block which they had not the 
industry to remo.ve. The rest paid no regard to the matter ; 
they collected their tithes in those districts where they were sup- 
ported by bayonets ; where that protection was wantmg, they 
abandoned the field to the native clergy, and contented them- 
selves with petitioning the government against the horrid crime 
of allowing their tithes to be converted to the support of Popery. 
One of the statutes for establishing the new religion in Ireland, 
enacted that every rector or clergyman should take an oath to 
establish and maintain a school in his parish for the education 
of the poor. The oath was regularly taken and as regularly 
broken, down to the commencement of the present century. 
No doubt some of my Episcopal friends may think this is strong 
language, but hear what Taylor says in his history of Ireland : 
"The Reformation produced in Ireland nothing but confusion, 
misery and degradation. There were many golden opportuni- 
ties offered, when, by temperance and wise measures, Protest- 
antism might have been fixed in Ireland on a secure basis. 
They were all lost by the negligence of some, or the more cul- 
pable profligacy of others. It is painful to dwell on the sins of 
omission and commission of the Church of England, of which 
the writer is a devout member, but it is worse than useless to 
disguise the truth. Its establishment in Ireland exhibits the 
most flagrant instances of both positive and negative delin- 



History of Ireland. 31 

quency, which, as our history will show, have produced the 
most fatal consequences. " Taylor also says, "A party of soldiers, 
issuing- from the garrison of Athlone, attacked the church of 
Clonmaenoise, destroyed the ornaments and defiled its altars, 
and the impression produced was, the new religion sanctioned 
sacrilege and robbery." Taylor still further says, "The Irish 
clergy, though deficient in orthodoxy, were conspicuous for their 
learning, zeal and piety. Their missionaries traveled into the 
neighboring heathen countries, like their predecessors the apos- 
tles, in the garb of unaffected poverty, with words of per- 
suasion on their lips, and the gospel of everlasting peace in their 
hands." The pious labors of Columbkill are, to this hour, 
justly the boast of the Irish nation. During the sixth and sev- 
enth centuries, and down to the ninth, Ireland was proverbially 
the chief seat of piety and learning. True, the learning of the 
time was confined to few subjects, and even such as it was, was 
monopolized by the clergy ; still the respect shown to information, 
and the ardor for literary distinction, produced good effects, 
which extended far beyond the circle of those who enjoyed its 
immediate fruits. There is really no authentic history of Ire- 
land before the introduction of Christianity into the country. 
While in all other countries the introduction of Christianity has 
been the slow work of time, has been resisted by either gov- 
ernment or people, and seldom effected without the shedding of 
blood, in Ireland, on the contrary, by the preaching of St. Pat- 
rick, Christianity burst forth as with the ripeness of a northern 
summer, at once covering the whole land. Kings and princes, 
when not themselves among the ranks of the converted, saw 
their sons and daughters joining in the train without a murmur. 
Chiefs, at variance in all else, agreed in meeting beneath the 
Christian banner, and the proud Druid and Bard laid their 
superstitions meekly at the foot of the cross. Nor was there a 
single drop of blood shed, on account of Religion, through the 
entire course of this mild Christian revolution, by which, in a 
few years, all Ireland was brought tranquilly under the domin- 
ion of the Gospel. Had any attempt been made to assail, or 
rudely alter, the ancient ceremonies of their faith, all that 



32 History of Ireland. 

prejudice in favor of old institutions, which is so inherent in the 
Irish, would at once have rallied around their ancient creed, 
and the result would, of course, been quite different. But the 
outward forms of their past errors were used as a means of 
conveying to them the truths of the Gospel. The days devoted 
to their pagan festivals, were now transferred to the service of 
the Christian cause. The feast of Samhin, which they held 
annually in spring, was found to coincide with the celebration 
of Easter; and the fires lighted by the pagan Irish to welcome 
summer, even to this day, are celebrated in honor of the Eve 
of St. John. 

Before entering on an account of St. Patrick's mission, a 
brief sketch of his life previous to that period may be requisite. 
It will be seen that with him, as with perhaps most men who 
have achieved extraordinary actions, a train of preparations 
appears to have been laid, from the very outset, for the work 
he was to accomplish. There is nothing certain about his 
birthplace, though it is pretty clear he Avas from near Dumbar- 
ton, on the river Clyde, in Scotland. ' 

The year of the birth of St. Patrick is a subject of contro- 
versy, but the most reliable is the year A. D. 387, as according 
to his own statement he was sixteen years old when he was 
made captive, in the year 403. On being carried captive to 
Ireland, the young Patrick was purchased as a slave by a man 
named Milcho, who lived on land that is now within the county 
of Antrim, who employed him in tending sheep, where his 
time, as described by himself, was devoted to prayer daily. At 
length, after six years of slavery, the desire of escaping from 
bondage arose in his heart — a voice in his dreams, he says, told 
him that he was soon to see his parents and home, and that a 
ship was ready to carry him. Accordingly, in his flight south- 
west he found a ship that was about to sail to France, and in 
three days he was free and among friends, as his parents resided 
then near Tours, in France, where he spent four years in the 
College of St. Martin, where he was ordained a priest. The 
attention of Rome being at this time directed to the preaching 
of Christianity among the Irish, it was resolved by Pope Celes- 



History of Ireland. 33 

tine to send a bishop to that country, and Paladius was the 
person appointed. On the death of this prelate, St. Patrick 
was appointed his successor, and arrived in Ireland, as the Irish 
Annals inform us, in the first year of the reign of Pope Sextus 
the Third. His first landing was on the shore of Dublin. After 
meeting with a repulse at this and some other places in Leins- 
ter, the Saint, anxious, we are told, to visit the haunts of his 
youth to see his old master Milcho, and endeavor to convert 
him to Christ, steered his course for East Ulster, and arrived 
with his companions at a port near Strangford, in the Barony of 
Lecale. Here on landing they were met by herdsmen in the 
service of the lord of the district, who, supposing them to be 
robbers or pirates, hastened to alarm the household. In a 
moment the master himself, whose name was Dicho; made his 
appearance attended by armed men, but on seeing the calm 
sanctity of St. Patrick, laid down his weapon and invited the 
whole party into his dwelling. 

The impression which the looks of the Saint had made, his 
Christian eloquence but served to confirm ; and not only the 
pagan lord himself but all his family became converts. 

In an humble barn belonging to this chief, which was ever 
after called Sabhul Padruic, or Patrick's Barn, was where the 
Saint first celebrated Mass in Ireland ; and we find that this spot, 
consecrated by his first triumph, continued to the last his favor- 
ite and frequent retreat. 

Desirous of visiting his former abode, and of seeing the moun- 
tain where he had so often prayed while in bondage, he set out 
for the residence of his old master Milcho. Whatever might 
have been his hopes of converting him, he was doomed to meet 
disappointment, as Milcho on hearing of his coming refused to 
see him. He now returned to Down, and as Easter was ap- 
proaching, resolved to celebrate that great festival in the 
neighborhood of Tara, where the princes and senators of the 
kingdom were assembled. On their arrival at Slane, it being 
the eve of Piaster, the Saint and his companions pitched their 
tents for the night, and lighted their camp-fires. This gave 
offense to the King, who sent a messenger to summon the 



34 History of Ireland. 

offender to his presence. On his arrival the princes were seated 
in a circle to receive him, when Here, the son of Deigo, im- 
pressed with reverence by his appearance, stood up to salute 
him, requesting him to preach before the court on the following 
day. There seems no doubt that the King gave full leave to 
the Saint to preaeh his new creed to the people, on condition of 
his not infringing on the laws or peace of his kingdom. But 
that either himself or his Queen were converted there is reason 
to doubt. At length, having preached throughout all the 
provinces, and filled the greater part of the island with Chris- 
tians and with churches, Ware says he established his metro- 
politan See at Armagh, after the great bulk of the nation was 
won over to the faith. 

St. Patrick passed the remainder of his days between Armagh 
and Downpatrick, the spot that witnessed the first dawn of his 
apostolic career, and where he is buried, having died on the 17th 
of March, anno domini 465. 

At every step the transition to the new faith was smoothed 
by these adoptions : The convert saw in the baptismal font 
where he was immersed, the sacred well at which his fathers had 
worshiped. The Druidical stone on the high places bore, 
rudely carved on it the name of the Redeemer, and the cross, 
the great emblem of man's salvation ; and it was generally by 
the side of those ancient round towers — whose origin was then 
perhaps a mystery — that, in order to share in the feelings which 
they inspired, the Christian temple arose. With the same view 
the Sacred Grove was consecrated to religion ; and the word 
Dair, or oak, so often combined with the names of churches in 
Ireland, sufficiently marks the favorite haunts of the idolatry 
which the new faith superseded. The famous church of St. 
Bridget, in County Kildare, was but the Druid's cell of oaks 
converted into a Christian temple. 

To what extent Christianity had spread in Ireland before the 
mission of St. Patrick, there is no very accurate means of 
judging. Tertullion says that in his time a knowledge of the 
Christian faith had reached those parts of the British Isles yet 
unapproached by the Romans, by which he means Ireland and 



History of Ireland. 35 

perhaps Scotland. Nor are there wanting writers who, placing 
reliance on the assertion of Eusebius that some of the Apostles 
preached the Gospel in the British Isles, suppose St. James the 
Elder to have preached the Gospel among the Irish, just as St. 
Paul is said to have communicated it to the Britons. But 
though we have no direct evidence of the religious state of the 
Irish in their own country, we have proof how early they began 
to distinguish themselves on the Continent as Christian scholars 
and writers. 

No sooner was the news spread throughout Ireland that the 
great apostle was no more, than the clergy flocked from all 
quarters to Sabhul, now Downpatrick, to assist in solemnizing 
his obsequies ; and as every bishop or priest arrived all felt 
inclined to honor the dead by the celebration of Mass, the rites 
were continued without interruption through day and night. 
To psalmody and the chanting of hymns the hours of the night 
were all devoted ; and so great was the profusion of torches 
kept constantly burning that, as those who describe the scene 
express it, darkness was dispelled, and the whole time appeared 
to be one constant day. In the choice of a successor there 
could be no delay or difficulty, as the eyes of the Saint himself, 
and of all who were interested in the appointment, had long 
been fixed on his disciple Benignus as the person destined to 
succeed him. It was remembered that he had in speaking of 
him when but a boy said of him, in the language of prophecy 
rather than appointment, " He will be heir of my power." 

At the commencement of the sixth century, Christianity had 
become almost universal throughout Ireland, and before its 
close the Church could boast of many holy persons, whose fame 
for sanctity and learning has not been confined to their own 
country, but is still cherished and held in reverence by the great 
majority of Christians throughout the world. Usher says, when 
Charlemagne began to reign, literature had been forgotten almost 
everywhere. Two Irishmen, who were exceedingly learned, 
called Clement and Albinus, came with some British merchants 
to the coast of France, and having no other commodity to dis- 
pose of, they, in order to satisfy the people who surrounded 



36 History of Ireland. 

them, cried, "Science for sale ! " The people thinking them 
mad, carried the news to Charlemagne. This great prince, who 
was desirous that learning might be revived in bis empire, had 
them brought to court, and after questioning them had them 
remain with him. He established them in France, and gave 
orders for their support, and that they should be furnished with 
suitable dwellings for themselves and the pupils whom he placed 
under their discipline. 

From the days of Charlemagne to the days of Henry VHI, 
Ireland produced many learned men. 

In Ireland the effects of the Reformation were beginning to be 
felt in 1548. The Irish people were strongly attached to their 
religion, and took alarm at the slightest attempt to introduce a 
change. All Europe has known the miseries they have under- 
gone and the sacrifices they have made in defense of it, from 
the above period to the present time. * 

The conquest of Ireland had not been yet completed. Symp- 
toms, however, appeared from time to time among the ancient 
Irish, which portended the speedy reduction of the island. When 
the chiefs of the districts had any complaint against the Superior 
Chief on account of tribute which the latter exacted from them, 
perhaps with too much rigor, instead of having recourse to the 
old mode of arbitration, they carried their complaints before the 
English Governor, who, while effecting between them an out- 
ward reconciliation, exerted himself to sever the ties which 
bound them together, so that by a separation of the vassals 
from their chief the body became enfeebled, many instances of 
which occurred about this time. Conn O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, 
having a dispute with Maguire, Phelim Roe O'Neill, and other 
nobles who held under him, they presented themselves before 
the Deputy and Council in Dublin. The Council heard their 
recriminations and complaints, and had them reconciled on 
certain conditions. It decided that Maguire should be exempt 
in future from dependence on O'Neill of Tyrone ; that he 
should hereafter remain under the Deputy's protection, and that 
he should acquit himself of every duty a subject owes to his 
lord. A similar decree was made respecting O'Donnell, Prince 



History of Ireland. 37 

of Tryconnel, and those who held under him. These were fol- 
lowed by the submission of Brian and Hugh Oge McMahon to 
the Deputy of Kilmainham, near Dublin. Dowdall, who had 
been appointed Archbishop of Armagh by Henry, on the death 
of Cromer, in opposition to the Pope's nominee, unexpectedly 
became the most violent in denying the King's supremacy. 
And when the Parliament, to punish his obstinacy, transferred 
the Primacy from Armagh to Dublin, he abandoned the con- 
test and his diocese together. He was reinstated by Queen 
Mary, and again removed by Elizabeth and died in exile. We 
are told by an English Chancellor of this time, that the reformed 
clergy were strangely negligent ; that they did not preach more 
than once a year, and that this annual sermon was the only 
instruction they vouchsafed to afford their flocks ; that they 
placed their reliance on acts of Parliament and bands of soldiers, 
substituting the law and the sword for the Gospel and the Cross. 
The English monarchs had hitherto only borne the title of 
Lords of Ireland. The style and title of King was now con- 
firmed on Henry and his heirs, by which act the authority of 
the Pope to bestow the kingdom was virtually disclaimed. 
Peerages and promotions were at this time liberally bestowed 
on the most powerful descendants of the original settlers and 
native chieftains, and further honors were promised to all who 
would support the King. The most formidable enemies of the 
English power were invited to seats in Parliament as peers. 
De Burgo was created Earl of Clanricarde, O'Brien became 
Earl of Thomond, and the great O'Neill resigned the title of 
his s^j?^ 'for that of Earl of Tyrone. The good effects of this 
policy were shown by the restoration of public tranquility, and 
moderation and firmness marked the Irish administration during 
the remainder of Henry's reign. Henry died on the 28th of 
January, 1547, having lived fifty-six years, of which he reigned 
thirty-eight. It is difficult to describe the character of this 
unhappy prince. His portrait varies according to the disposi- 
tions of the historians who have written on the subject. The 
partisans of the new religion think it a merit in him to have 
shaken off the Pope's authority. His most zealous friends 



38 History of Ireland. 

admit that he was addicted to many vices. In truth, the dif- 
ferent opinions of writers with respect to rehgion, have cast such 
a doubt on historical facts, from the period of the pretended 
divorce of Henry and Catharine of Aragon to the present time, 
that it is impossible to discriminate between truth and false- 
hood. Notwithstanding, however, the various opinions of 
writers on Henry's character, it may be affirmed that he was 
a bad King, a bad husband, and a bad Christian. Henry spent 
the first eighteen years of his reign at plays, masquerades and 
amusements. He soon spent the eighteen hundred thou- 
sand pounds sterling (about nine millions of dollars) which, 
through the avarice of his father, he found in the treasury when 
he ascended the throne ; so that he found himself more embar- 
rassed than any of his predecessors. He, however, supplied 
the deficiency by tyranny. The immense wealth of the monas- 
teries, hospitals, colleges and other religious houses which were 
suppressed ; the silver ornaments and vessels of these houses ; 
the spoils of Cardinals Wolsey and Cromwell, whom he 
beheaded ; the estates of several noblemen, which were confis- 
cated for his use, and the large sums that were extorted from 
the clergy under pretext of law, increased his exchequer to a 
considerable extent, but were not sufficient to support his 
profligacy. Ward, in his history of the Reformation, says, 
Henry levied exorbitant taxes upon his people, raised exten- 
sive loans upon his privy seal, and then had acts of Parliament 
passed to annul his engagements and defraud his creditors. 
Finding the wealth of the kingdom entirely exhausted, he 
caused money to be recoined and made spurious to such a 
degree that, to the shame of England, it was not current in 
foreign countries, by which means the merchant lost his credit 
abroad. In Ireland, for want of gold and silver, the King 
ordered that copper money should be used, to the great detri- 
ment and displeasure of the people. Of Henry's six wives, 
two were divorced, two were beheaded and one died in child- 
bed ; the last one only escaped a cruel fate by the sudden death 
of the King, which facts fully prove him to have been the worst 
of husbands. "In fine," says Saunders, " Henry is represented 



History of Irelmid, 39 

to have been a cruel and profligate prince. Even the worst 
of the monarchs of Europe did not surpass him in cruelty and 
debauchery." This writer, like Sir Walter Raleigh, affirms that, 
were the portrait of tyranny lost, the original might be found 
in the life of King Henry the Eighth. He was a monster of 
iniquity, who never spared man in his anger, nor woman in his 
lust, and from the consciousness of his crimes he died in utter 
despair. 

EDWARD THE SIXTH, 

only son of Henry the Eighth and Jane Seymour, ascended the 
throne at the age of nine years, in virtue of his father's will. 
Edward Seymour, Earl of Hartford and maternal uncle to the 
young King, was appointed guardian of his person, and protec- 
tor of the kingdom during his minority, and also created Duke 
of Somerset. The young King was crowned at Westminster 
on the 20th of February, 1574, by Cranmer, Archbishop of 
Canterbury. He was proclaimed King of Ireland on the 26th 
of February, of the same year. 

The schism begun in England by Henry continued to spread 
under his son Edward. Seymour, the King's uncle, who 
governed the kingdom as protector, added heresy to schism. 
Saunders says, Seymour in his doctrine was Zuinglian. Cran- 
mer, who had always been one, found his Avishes gratified on 
seeing his views received by the young King, who favored his 
errors, which speedily gained ground. In order to spread this 
heresy more widely, the protector took care to raise those who 
professed it to the most important offices in the state. The 
Reformation was now beginning to be preached in public. 
Besides Cranmer and his agents, Richard Cox and Hugh 
Latimer (whom the Lutherans called the first apostle of Eng- 
land), and other English preachers, the country was filled with 
swarms of preachers from Germany, all preaching their own 
doctrines. Some were Lutherans, but most favored the doc- 
trine of Zuingle, which was that of the protector. This 
appeared dangerous to the Parliament. That tribunal acknowl- 
edged no rival in religious matters ; it received its commission 



40 History of Ireland. 

from the King, who caused himself to be declared the head of 
it. In order to please all parties, and at the same time keep 
up some appearance of unity, wise Senators adopted some 
articles of the tenets of each of the sects, and in order that none 
should complain of being excluded, they added a portion of 
Calvinism, which was now beginning to be preached. Calvin 
had already the confidence to write to the protector and exhort 
him to use the sword to force the Catholics to embrace what 
he thought the doctrines of the Gospel. From the many inno- 
vations introduced into religion, the people became alarmed. 
The celebration of Mass was abolished, and the marriage of the 
clergy allowed, and the ornaments in the churches removed, 
and the six articles established by Henry the Eighth were 
annulled. Several Bishops were deprived of their Sees and 
thrown into dungeons ; the revenues of the churches, together 
with their ornaments, were converted to profane uses. These 
things alarmed the people and gave rise to a rebellion in many 
parts of England, where the inhabitants took up arms in defense 
of the religion of their forefathers. This year, 1529, the King 
of England sent his commands to the Deputy of Ireland to 
have the public prayers said in the English language ; and that 
orders should be given to all archbishops, bishops and parish 
priests throughout the kingdom to conform in all these matters 
to the King's will. MacGeohegan says, "In obedience to 
the King's commands, the Deputy convened a meeting of the 
clergy to inform them of the orders he had received. George 
Dowdall, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, who 
was grave, learned, and an able preacher, and firmly attached 
to the Catholic cause, spoke with vigor against this innova- 
tion, and among other things said : ' Any illiterate layman will 
then have power to sing Mass.' " After this he left the meeting, 
followed by all the bishops, except Staples of Meath, and 
Brown of Dublin, who were both appointed by the King. On 
the Easter Sunday following Brown preached in the catliedral 
on this subject, taking for his text the following words from the 
Psalmist: "Open my eyes that I may behold thy law." Saint 
Leger, the Deputy, was recalled this year. Complaints were 



History of Ireland. 41 

urged against him by Brown, Bishop of Dubhn, for want of 
zeal in advancing the Reformation. He was succeeded by James 
Crofts, who was a zealous Protestant, and endeavored to induce 
Dowdall, the Primate, to conform to the King's wishes respect- 
ing the Liturgy. Upon his refusal he was deprived of the title 
of Primate, which was conferred on Brown of Dublin. 

The first expedition of Crofts was into Ulster. Having 
reached Carrickfergus, he sent a detachment under Captain 
Bagnell to surprise Racklin. This detachment was repulsed 
with heavy loss, and one of the vessels lost. Bagnell was taken 
prisoner by the McDonald's and afterwards exchanged for 
Surly Boy McDonald, their brother, who was a prisoner in 
Dublin, in the hands of the English. 

Edward the Sixth died in Greenwich in July, 1552, at the age 
of sixteen years, of which he had reigned six. The Reforma- 
tion advanced during his reign, as he began his reign when 
nine years old, and was first under the control of Somerset 
and Cranmer, and finally under the Duke of Northumberland, 
who conformed to the religion which suited his interest ; so that 
these two favorites used the Reformation as a pretext to seize 
upon the property of the Church. The King now held the place 
of the Pope in England, but the new Pope of England claimed 
prerogatives to which the Pope of Rome never aspired. Heylin, 
in his history of the Reformation, says the Bishops were now 
persons who might be removed at the pleasure of the King; 
those of them who opposed this lost their Sees, and were im- 
prisoned or banished. The more worldly subscribed to every 
article of the Reformation, and consented to the loss of the 
Church lands, which were divided among the favorites of the 
Court ; but, to return to our history. 

On the death of Edward, the Duke of Northumberland 
caused Jane, eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, to be 
proclaimed Queen of England. The duke was a favorite with 
Edward, and finding his end approaching, told him that con- 
science required that he should look to the preservation of the 
new religion after his death ; that his sister Mary was opposed 
to it, but that he could not exclude her without also excluding 



42 History of Ireland. 

Elizabeth. He finally persuaded the dying prince to make a 
will, by which he declared his cousin Jane the heiress to the 
crown. 

The Duke of Northumberland, at the head of ten thousand 
men, had Jane proclaimed Queen at Bury. But the nobles who 
were in London had Mary proclaimed Queen by the Mayor of 
that city, and the nobility of Norfolk and Suffolk flocked to 
her standard. Northumberland, seeing the current in favor of 
Mary, repaired to Cambridge, where, for want of a herald, he 
himself proclaimed Queen Mary in the market place, throwing 
up his hat in token of joy. This show of loyalty, however, 
availed him nothing. He was arrested next day by the Earl of 
Arundell and sent to the Tower. Sanders says 

QUEEN MARY, 

having been proclaimed in all the principal towns in England, 
left Farmington for London, A. D. 1553. On the 30th of July 
she was met in Essex by her sister Elizabeth, attended by a 
thousand horsemen. On the 3d of August she made her entry 
into London. She then proceeded to the Tower, where the 
Duke of Norfolk, Edward Lord Courtney, Stephen Gardiner, 
the deposed Bishop of Winchester, and the Duke of Somerset, 
were prisoners. They received her on their knees ; but rising, 
she embraced them, saying, "These are my prisoners." They 
were soon restored to liberty. Gardiner was reinstated in his See 
at Winchester, and appointed Chancellor of England, and all the 
other bishops, namely. Boner, Bishop of London ; Tunstal, of 
Durham ; Day, of Winchester ; West, of Exeter, and Heath, 
of Worcester, were restored to their Sees. All married clergy 
were removed, and the Queen renounced the profane title of 
Head of the Church. Taylor, who was a Protestant, says 
Queen Mary commenced her reign by several acts just and 
humane ; she granted an amnesty to those Protestants who had 
proclaimed 

LADY JANE GREY 

in Dublin, and released many prisoners. He says the restora- 
tion of the old religion was effected without violence ; no perse- 



History of Ireland. 43 

cution of Protestants was attempted, and several of those who 
fled from England for fear, found a safe retreat among the Cath- 
olics in Ireland. " It is but justice, " he says, "to the Catholics 
to add, that on the three occasions of their obtaining the upper 
hand, they never injured a single person in life or limb for pro- 
fessing a religion different from their own. They had suffered 
persecution, and learned mercy, as they showed in the reign of 
Mary, in the wars in Ireland from 1641 to 1648, and during the 
brief triumph ol James the Second." Sanders says Mary found 
herself obliged to make examples of some distinguished per- 
sons. The Duke of Northumberland, Sir John Gates and Sir 
Thomas Palmer were executed on Tower Hill, in the month of 
August; shortly after, Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
Lady Jane Grey and her husband, and two sons of the Duke of 
Northumberland, shared the same fate. Mary was crowned, 
with the usual solemnities, in St. Peter's Church by the Bishop 
of Winchester. English historians have unanimously used the 
term, "Bloody Mary;" even McAuley speaks of her cruelty. 
But she lived in a bloody age, and inherited the nature of her 
father. Taylor says, under Mary, the officers of state changed 
their religion with the same facility they had displayed on 
former occasions, and the great body of the clergy followed 
their example. Unfortunately, some of the priests and bishops 
had shown the sincerity of their conversion by marrying. 
Wives were not so easily got rid of as creeds ; and they were 
unwillingly forced to preserve their consistency and retire. The 
English Council having informed the Privy Council of Ireland 
of Mary's succession to the throne, she was proclaimed in Dub- 
lin and afterwards in the towns of the kingdom, to the great 
satisfaction of the people. The Queen, who was already plan- 
ning the restoration of the old religion, caused a declaration in 
favor of the Mass, and the other dogmas of the Catholic faith, 
to be published in Ireland, that is, in the English province, 
where heresy was beginning to take root. 

George Dowdall, Archbishop of Armagh, who had fled to a 
foreign country, was recalled by Queen Mary and restored to 
his former dignities, A. D. 1554. This primate convened a 



44 Histery of Ireland. 

provisional synod in Drohada, in which several decrees were 
passed tending to the restoration of religion and the ancient 
rights of the Church. In the month of April the primate and 
Doctor Walsh, who was appointed Bishop of Meath, received 
orders to depose such bishops and priests as had married — Sta- 
ples, Bishop of Meath ; Brown, Archbishop of Dublin ; Lancas- 
ter, Bishop of Kildare ; Travers, of Leighlin ; Bale, of Osory, 
and Casey, of Limerick. Their places were filled by Catholic 
bishops. It must be observed that those bishops who were dis- 
possessed were Englishmen, no Irishmen having yet became 
apostates. Bale and Brown, the principal of those who intro- 
duced the new creed in Ireland, were monks that had been 
stripped of their order. 

When the news was spread in England of a marriage between 
Queen Mary and 

PHILLIP OF SPAIN, 

a serious disturbance broke out in Kent and in other places, in 
which Wyatt was one of the principal performers. Some 
thought that by this marriage England might become a province 
of Spain, while Protestants feared that the Alliance of the 
Queen with a Catholic prince, might put an end to the system 
which had made so rapid a progress during the last two reigns. 
The Queen, however, was so ably seconded by her subjects that 
the only result was the punishment of the rebels. Phillip landed 
at Southampton, in England, in July, and proceeded to Win- 
chester, where the Queen awaited his arrival, and the marriage 
took place the following day. Mary was then thirty-eight years 
old, and Phillip but twenty-seven. They were immediately pro- 
claimed under the following titles : ' ' Phillip and Mary, by the 
grace of God, King and Queen of England, France, Naples, 
Jerusalem and Ireland, defenders of the faith, prince and princess 
of Spain and Sicily, archduke and archduchess of Austria, duke 
and duchess of Milan, Burgundy and Brabant, and count and 
countess of Hapsburg, Flanders and the Tyrol." 

MacGeoghan says: "Although the Queen had done much 
since her coming to the throne for the establishment of religion 



History of Ireland. 45 

and the Catholic Hturgy ; had the Mass and divine offices cele- 
brated, and had caused foreign heretics to be driven out of the 
country (of whom it is said at least thirty thousand had by vari- 
ous routes departed from England), still she was unable to bring 
back the people to their obedience to Rome. The Parliament 
objected, lest the Pope might insist on the restitution of the 
property of the Church which had been seized upon by the 
nobles ; still they repealed the laws enacted during the preceding 
reigns against the jurisdiction of the Popes." 

They also repealed the law respecting Cardinal Pole, who had 
just arrived from Rome as legate of Pope Julius the Third, and 
finally submitted to everything, avowing their regret for having 
been disobedient to his Holiness. They then asked his forgive- 
ness, both for themselves and the people, for the censures they 
had incurred by their schism, which was granted to them by the 
legate, who read aloud the power delegated to him by the Pope. 
A splendid embassy was sent to Rome to have all things con- 
firmed, and on their being ratified by his Holiness, solemn 
thanksgiving was offered for the happy reconciliation of England 
with the Holy See. The impartial reader can see the sincerity 
of the Parliament and people of England. No doubt Cobbett 
was right in saying, ' ' An Englishman in those days changed his 
religion as quick as he would change an old and worn out coat 
for a new one. " 

The lands of the monasteries and abbeys which in the preced- 
ing reigns had been divided among the courtiers, remained in 
the same state during Mary's reign, except the priory of St. 
John of Jerusalem, near Dublin, which was restored to its former 
owners through the influence of Cardinal Pole. The Queen had 
resolved to restore all the religious houses and lands to the right- 
ful owners, but her reign was too short for so great an under- 
taking. Although Mary attempted to protect and advance the 
Catholic religion, still her officers did not cease to inflict injuries 
upon the Irish. 

Mary died at Westminster, in the forty-second year of her 
age and the sixth of her reign. The Bishop of Winchester died 
before her, and Cardinal Pole survived her but sixteen hours. 



46 History of Ireland. 

MacGeoghan says that the reign of Mary only checked the 
progress of heresy, it soon acquired new strength under EHza- 
beth. It is remarkable, says Cox, that though Mary was a 
zealous papist, the Irish were as unrestful under her as under 
Edward. Had Cox been as honorable as he was malicious, he 
would have observed that what he advances as the cause of these 
disorders was rather the injustice which the English ministry 
were exercising over the Irish than on the religion of the Queen. 
The Irish were as tyrannically ruled under her as under her 
father. 

ELIZABETH, 

the only surviving child of Henry the Eighth, was, after the 
death of Mary, crowned Queen of England, according to the 
Roman ritual, with the usual ceremonies, in Westminster Abbey, 
by Oglethrope, Bishop of Carlisle. All the other bishops and 
archbishops refused to attend. 

This princess was then in her twenty-fifth year. Her reign 
was long and eventful. Though she had previously determined 
to make a change in religion, still, in order not to excite the 
alarm of Catholics or depress the hopes of Protestants, she 
selected her council from among noblemen of both religions ; 
after which embassadors were sent to all the princes of Europe, 
to announce to them her accession to the throne. Elizabeth 
appointed Sir Edward Karn her agent to Rome, to inform the 
Pope of her accession to the throne and her wish to live on 
kind terms with his Holiness. Karn had a conference with 
the Pope on the question of the Queen's legitimacy, he insist- 
ing that his Holiness should first pronounce the marriage of 
Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn valid. The Pope and his 
council were astounded. To admit this was to endorse adul- 
tery. When Karn informed Elizabeth of the failure of his 
mission, Cobbett says she snapped her fingers, saying, " A 
bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." He also says 
that when Mary was dying she questioned Elizabeth on the 
Catholic faith, when Elizabeth prayed that the earth might open 
and bury her if she should ever deny the Catholic faith. Had 
the Pope acknowledged her legitimacy, there is little doubt she 



History of Ireland. 47 

would have continued to uphold that Church. Ware says the 
Queen now had her Parliament confirm her ecclesiastical suprem- 
acy, and cut loose from the Pope. 

Elizabeth now had the Book of Common Prayer approved by 
her Parliament and ordered to be used by all her subjects ; the 
sacraments of both kinds were established, and an act passed to 
have the revenues of the monasteries transferred to the crown. 
A warm debate arose in Parliament respecting the supremacy of 
the church, some of the members holding that it was unnatural 
and alarming to give to a woman such power, whom St. Paul 
said should not even speak in the church. The majority, hoAV- 
ever, were in the Queen's favor, and she was declared supreme 
head of the church. The taking of the oath was now the test of 
faith, as those who refused to take it were deprived of their 
living. Baker says the number who refused was not over two 
hundred out of nine thousand. The most of them took it 
through a dastardly and disgraceful policy. It was at this time 
that the bishops displayed a firmness truly apostolic. Out of 
fifteen there was but one apostate, viz : Kitchin, Bishop of Lan- 
daff The rest, namely, Heath, Archbishop of York ; Boner, 
Bishop of London ; Tunstal, of Durham ; White, of Winches- 
ter ; Kirbly, of Ely; Watson, of Lincoln; Poole, of Petersbor- 
ough: Christopher, of Chichester; Brown, of Wells; Turber, of 
Exeter; Morgan, of St. Davids; Bain, of Litchfield; Scott, of 
Chester, and Oglethrope, of Carlisle, being determined not to 
bend to the idol, were thrown into prison and deprived of their 
Sees, which were given to those who were more manageable. 

On the death of Cardinal Pole, Parker was appointed by the 
Queen Archbishop of Canterbury. He was consecrated by Bar- 
low and two others as pliable as himself Parker also consecra- 
ted all who were appointed by the Queen to fill the places of the 
banished bishops. Debates on the validity of these ordinations 
occupied many writers of that day, and even to the present. 

The English Church, although disfigured, still retained some 
of the old religion. Every bishop had his tribunal for the settle- 
ment of matters of discipline, and pastors were authorized to 
refuse communion to those they considered unworthy, without 



48 History of Ireland. 

being accountable to any, as appears from the following, printed 
at that time in London : "Those who wish to partake of the 
holy communion, shall send their names on the preceding day 
to the pastor. If there be any notorious sinner among them, 
or such as have injured their neighbors by word or deed, so as 
to offend the congregation, the pastor shall send for him and 
warn him not to approach the Lord's table unless he publicly 
declares that he repents, and promises to reform, in order to 
satisfy the congregation ; and that he will make restitution to 
those he has injured when he can with convenience, " It appears 
that those only who were known to be devoted to the Queen, 
or those who were easily bribed, were allowed to sit in Parlia- 
ment in Ireland at this time. The nobles of the country, who 
were all Catholics, were carefully excluded, so that by this 
means any act could be passed in Ireland ; and though it was 
called an Irish Parliament, it was composed of Englishmen, 
either by origin or birth. 

About this time John Knox, having rejected the English 
Reformation, adopted the doctrines of Calvin. This was the 
foundation of the Presbyterian religion and the Puritans, who 
afterwards produced such ravages in Scotland. Heylin says, 
"Knox, a turbulent preacher and seditious enthusiast, being 
informed at Geneva of the progress of his brethren in Scotland, 
repaired thither in 1559, where he became the preacher an'd fire- 
brand of rebellion. At Perth he preached such invectives 
against Catholics, that after his sermon the mob who heard him 
tore down every church and religious house in the town. The 
mob in Sterling, St. Andrew, Glasgow and Edinburgh followed 
their example." 

The fanatics did not leave a church standing in Edinburgh in 
which Queen Mary, who was a Catholic, could have divine ser- 
vice celebrated. In another sermon Knox spoke bitterly against 
the Queen, and exhorted the mob to unite in expelling her from 
the kingdom. The rebels consequently published a decree 
depriving the Queen of all power in the government. 

Alarmed at these events, the Queen of Scotland retook the 
city of Edinburgh. She then fortified the port of Leith, and 



History of Ireland. 49 

forced the rebels to withdraw to the north. Thus situated they 
had recourse, by the advice of Knox, to the Queen of England ; 
and although the laws of nations are violated by one prince sup- 
porting the rebel subjects of another, still political motives 
caused Elizabeth to assist the Puritans in Scotland. The Par- 
liament this year passed three laws in favor of the Reformation. 
The first Avas to abolish the Pope's authority and jurisdiction in 
the kingdom ; the second to repeal all acts in favor of Catholic 
doctrine ; the third to suppress the Mass and to impose penal- 
ties on all those who should perform the ceremony, or those 
who were present at it. The leaders next presented a form of 
faith and doctrine founded on the principles of Calvin, which 
was brought by Knox from Geneva to be professed by the 
Reformers in Scotland. Heylin says, ' ' During the debate there 
were but three temporal lords found to oppose these laws, who 
alleged as the reason of their opposition that they wished to 
follow the religion of their forefathers." Ware writes thus: 
"The Reformers of the Reformation affected to lead mortified 
lives. They inculcated the most rigid morals, and looked upon 
all who did not belong to their sect as profligates. Their speeches 
were composed of phrases taken from Scripture, and predestina- 
tion and special grace were the subjects of their discourses. 
They wrote and published false translations from the gospels 
and epistles of Paul, with observations and notes filled with the 
venom of their doctrines. They deceived the people by an 
affected piety." 

Ware continues: "They, the Puritans, were open enemies 
to hierarchy in the Church. They opposed Episcopacy, and 
resisted their lawful princes. By such principles as these their 
conduct was regulated. They deposed the Queen-dowager who 
held the regency, and forced her daughter, Queen Mary, their 
legitimate sovereign, to seek an asylum in England, where she 
was cruelly put to death after eighteen years' imprisonment. 
And lest King James the Sixth might be in their way they drove 
him from P^dinburgh and kept him in confinement at Sterling. 
The sanguinary wars in England and Ireland under Charles the 
First and his tragical end on the scaffold ; the exclusion of his 



50 History of Ireland. 

son, Charles the Second, from the throne for twelve years, and 
the expulsion of James the Second, were all the work of these 
Puritans." 

Such was the religion of England in the days of Elizabeth. 
That capricious nation, which accuses its neighbors of incon- 
sistency, changed religions five times in thirty years. The Eng- 
lish were Catholics in 1529. At the bidding of King Henry 
they accepted a religion which none of them understood. In 
Edward's reign their religion was much mixed ; the Zuingle 
heresy prevailed. Under Queen Mary the Catholic religion was 
restored, and both Parliament and people humbly asked the 
Pope's forgiveness for their past heresy, and on the accession 
of Elizabeth another was gotten up, with a mixture of the tenets 
of both Luther and Calvin, to which was given the name of the 
Church of England. 

Sidney was Governor of the English province in Ireland under 
Elizabeth. He convened a Parliament in January in Christ's 
Church in Dublin, to repeal all the acts that had been passed 
under Mary two years before in another Parliament in which he 
himself presided. Verily, he was a sincere Reformer! But 
these were days of inconsistency. MacGeoghegan says : ' ' Thus 
was the Parliament established judge of the faith without any 
mission but that received from a woman. In the Gospel he who 
refused to hear the Church was considered as a heathen or a 
publican. In the new doctrine he who did not hearken to 
Elizabeth and her Parliament in religious matters was deprived 
of his property, liberty, and, under certain circumstances, of his 
life." 

This Parliament also passed laws ordaining the uniformity of 
common prayer, regulating the sacraments, and also the conse- 
cration of bishops, as approved by Edward the Sixth ; and, 
lastly, that the Queen's right to the crown should be acknowl- 
edged, and making it high treason to speak or write against it. 

The subversion of the ancient religion and the establishment 
of the new in her states, formed the most remarkable feature in 
the reign of Elizabeth. The character of this princess will be 
more or less affected by the impression that change produces in 



History of Ireland. 51 

different minds. The incredulous, no doubt, look upon a change 
in religion as a matter of indifference, as they do not believe in 
any creed. Protestants give to the event a prominent place 
among the very few virtues of Elizabeth ; while others, after 
weighing well the whole enterprise, tell us that the memory of 
this Queen will be forever, from that occurrence alone, covered 
with infamy. It is not a part of our history to decide this 
controversy, nor to give an opinion whether religion required 
to be reformed or not. The character of Elizabeth is the matter 
now before us. According to that, therefore, our opinion must 
be shaped. The means which she made use of to effect the 
change in religion must be weighed with those of honor, con- 
science, and other qualities which render us pleasing before God 
and man. If we review closely the opinions of Elizabeth, an 
indifference will be discovered in her as to the choice of a 
religion. Brought up in her first years in the court of her 
father, amidst debauchery, sacrilege and tyranny, nothing short 
of a miracle could have saved her from contagion. Whatever 
was in conformity with her interests constituted the religion of 
Elizabeth. In the reign of her brother Edward she was a Cal- 
vinist. During the reign of her sister Mary the Mass, confession, 
and other tenets of the Catholic Church, accorded with her ideas. 
And had the Pope placed the crown on her head, and acknowl- 
edged her a legitimate daughter of Henry the Eighth, there is 
little doubt she would have lived and perhaps died a Catholic. 

Dodd, an English historian, says : ' ' Elizabeth caused penal 
laws to be published against those who refused to submit to the 
Reformation. Under these laws no one was secure in his life or 
liberty. It was in the power of any profligate to accuse his 
Catholic neighbor before a judge, when the informer was sure 
to be rewarded and the innocent one punished. To these were 
added other laws equally barbarous and inhuman. To refuse 
to acknowledge the Queen as the head of the Church ; to afford 
an asylum to the Catholic clergy ; to become a Catholic, or to be 
present when another joined the Catholic Church, was made 
high treason, and the punishment was death. While at the 
same time every method was resorted to to bring the unhappy 



52 History of Ireland. 

Catholic within the range of this sentence. The prisons were 
crowded with supposed culprits, many of whom suffered death. 
The number, even in England, that were put to death amounted 
to two hundred and twenty-seven. One hundred and ninety- 
seven of these were clergymen." Dodd further says: " If the 
persecutions under Mary had been dictated by a determination 
to suppress the doctrine of the Reformation, they would be just 
as culpable as those of Elizabeth. Interference with freedom of 
conscience is, in all cases, unjustifiable ; and quite as much so when 
the object is to force people to retain an old religion, as it is to 
make them adopt a new one. The recent researches of historians 
seems to show that the executions in the reign of Mary were 
wholly from political causes, and can be defended on this 
ground. Had they been the result of religious bigotry, they 
would have fully merited for her the title of ' Bloody Mary, ' 
so frequently (but as it now appears improperly) bestowed upon 
her." 

Queen Elizabeth was determined to have the Protestant re- 
ligion established in Ireland. She sent orders to her Deiputy 
to call a meeting of the clergy for that purpose; but the firm- 
ness of the bishops and their attachment to the Catholic religion 
rendered the attempt abortive, notwithstanding the offers made 
to bribe them. After this meeting, William Walsh, a native of 
Waterford, and Bishop of Meath, who was particularly zealous 
in the Catholic cause, having preached at Trim, in his own 
diocese, against the Queen's religion, was arrested, throAvn into 
prison and deposed shortly afterwards by order of the Queen. 
Thomas Livours, Bishop of Kildare, was treated in the same 
manner as Walsh. Having refused to take the oath of suprem- 
acy he was deprived of his See, and in order to gain his living 
taught school in Limerick, and died at Naas in 1577 a-t the age 
of eight)' years. The Irish Catholics were much alarmed by 
the changes which took place in church and state. They saw 
no security either for their churches or estates but by arms. 
They assembled in great- numbers, under the" command of Shane 
O'Neill, at that time the bravest and most powerful nobleman 
in the country. This resistance of the Irish differs from that of 



History of Ireland. 53 

subjects who, under pretext of religion or otherwise, rebel 
against their lawful princes — conduct which will never receive 
the approbation of other nations. Ireland had not been subju- 
gated. Her people only acknowledged the authority of England 
by compulsion, whatever their adversaries may say to the con- 
trary. They deemed it just to resist a foreign power which was 
endeavoring to direct their consciences by forcing a new religion 
upon them. O'Neill finding his countrymen zealous in the 
common cause, took command willingly and marched into the 
English province, where he carried on the war with success. 
When the campaign was over, this prudent general, not willing 
to spend the winter in a hostile country, which was already laid 
waste, returned to Ulster with the intention of reneAving hostili- 
ties in the spring. 

In the meantime Sussex made active preparations to oppose 
him. He received fresh troops from England to the number of 
four thousand men, four pieces of cannon, sixty barrels of gun- 
powder, and other ammunition. But not being satisfied with 
this reinforcement he went himself to England to receive instruc- 
tions respecting the campaign. On his return from England he 
.set out from Dublin for Ulster on the first day of July, at the 
head of five thousand men. Another detachment of fusilliers 
followed soon after under the command of Gough. O'Neill's 
forces being inferior, both in number and discipline, he posted 
himself so as not to be surprised, and the only fruits of the 
expedition were a suspension of hostilities and a reconciliation 
between the chiefs. O'Neill went over to England in December, 
where he concluded an honorable peace with Elizabeth and 
returned in May, well pleased with the reception he met. 
Roland Fitzgerald, Archbishop of Cashel, died this year, 1561. 
This prelate was descended from the noble Fitzgeralds of Burn- 
church. County Kilkenny. Elizabeth nominated an English- 
man to the vacant See, and Maurice Gibbon was appointed by 
the Pope. The hierarchy has been always preserved in the 
Church in Ireland, and every See has two bishops, one a Catho- 
lic appointed by the Pope, and the other a Protestant nominated 
by the King or Queen. Sussex was again Lord-Lieutenant of 



54 History of Ireland. 

Ireland in 1562 His first act was to change some districts into 
counties. To the ancient territory of Annaly he gave the name 
of County Longford. He then divided the province of Con- 
naught into six counties, namely, Clare, Galway, Sligo, Mayo, 
Rosscommon and Lietrim. The See of Armagh, which had been 
vacant since the death of George Dowdall, was given by the 
Queen to Adam Loftus, a native of Yorkshire. He had been 
chaplain to Sussex, and afterwards to the Queen. 

The civil administration was now committed to Loftus the 
Queen's Archbishop of Dublin. While Ormond was again 
intrusted with the command of the army, O'Neill made offers of 
peace and a new treaty was commenced. The object of O'Neill 
in this negotiation was only to gain time, for the double purpose 
of recruiting his own strength and wearing out the patience of 
his opponents. When his preparations were complete he threw 
off the mask, and summoned to his aid the O'Donells and others, 
and boldly declared his independence and laid close siege to the 
fort of Blackwater. 

Bagnall was ordered to relieve the place, and the armies of two 
generals nearly connected by marriage, and yet animated by more 
than mortal enmity, met near Armagh. The forces on both 
sides were nearly equal. The English having superior advan- 
tages in arms and discipline, the Irish were animated by a fiercer 
spirit and had a more skilled commander. In the heat of the 
engagement an explosion of gunpowder threw the English into 
confusion. At the same time Bagnall, while raising his beaver, 
was shot through the brain. The victory of the Irish was com- 
plete; fifteen hundred English soldiers and many of their best 
officers fell. Thirty-four standards, all the cannon, arms and 
ammunition remained in possession of the Irish. The fort of 
Blackwater was immediately surrendered to O'Neill, and the 
"Boyal English garrison in Armagh made quick time in the 
flight to Dublin. 

This great victory was apparently decisive. The flame of 
insurrection spread rapidly through the west and south. The 
Irish whose lands were confiscated, with one accord attacked the 
undertakers and drove them from their settlements. The 



History of Ireland. 55 

O'Moores in Leinster, the Geraldines in Munster, and the 
O'Conners and Burkes in Connaught, were all in arms. The 
English all flocked to the fortified towns on the coasts, and dare 
not move beyond their walls. 

O'Neill made every use of his advantage. He reconciled old 
feuds and allayed animosities, and gave to the Irish a degree of 
union which they never before possessed. He also sent ambas- 
sadors to King Philip of Spain, entreating that monarch to send 
him effective assistance. 

Elizabeth was now really alarmed. Her avarice and cruelty 
had driven the Irish into insurrection, and she now stood aghast 
at the consequences. Reports arrived in England that Philip of 
Spain was preparing two immense armaments, one to invade 
England and the other to aid O'Neill in Ireland. It became 
manifest that without speedy exertion the Queen would lose the 
fairest possession of the Crown. She sent into Ireland an army 
of twenty thousand men commanded by the Earl of Essex, 
esteemed the most gallant soldier of the age, Essex received 
the title of Lord- Lieutenant, and more ample powers than 
Pllizabeth had hitherto conferred on a subject. Essex expected 
an easy victory, and hoped that military glory would increase 
his ascendancy over the person of his frail and fond mistress- 
His friends and foes were alike eager to hurry his departure — 
the former in anticipation of triumph, and the latter because of 
the loss of his influence by his absence from court, and the hope 
that his presumption would rouse the jealous anger of the Queen. 

The news of such an immense army arriving did not diminish 
the confidence of O'Neill and his supporters. They awaited 
with stern indifference the proceedings of Essex, and determ- 
ined to wear him down by a tedious defensive war. Instead of 
marching into Ulster and bringing O'Neill at once to a decisive 
engagement, Essex marched southward to an exhausted co\xy\0 
try, where his troops were wasted by fatigue and famine. The 
Irish avoided any decisive battle, but gained many advantages 
over detached parties. 

The Earl of Sussex published an edict this year against the 
Catholic clergy, by which monks and popish priests were inter- 



56 History of Ireland. 

dieted either to meet or sleep in Dublin. The head of each 
family was ordered to attend, under pain, every Sunday at the 
Protestant service. Those who were unable to pay the fine went 
to Mass in the morning and to the Protestant service afterwards. 
But in order to prevent this pious fraud, the householders were 
registered and their names called before service in the Protest- 
ant churches. 

The Lord-Lieutenant took care to inform the Queen of 
O'Neill's movements, and how much was to be feared from such 
an enemy. The Queen sent him the following reply: " Let not 
your fear of Shane O'Neill give you uneasiness. Tell my troops 
to take courage, and that his rebellion may turn to their advan- 
tage, as there will be lands to bestow on those who need them." 
O'Neill was all this time levying troops in order to be avenged 
on Loftus, the Protestant Bishop of Armagh, who had Avritten 
against him. He burned his church, on which account Loftus 
pronounced sentence of excommunication against him. 

O'Neill's power engrossed much of the attention of the Eng- 
lish government at this time. The Queen gave orders to her 
Deputy to reduce him either by kindness or force. She offered 
to him the title of Earl of Tyrone and Baron of Dungannon. 
O'Neill received the proposal with a haughtiness expressive 
of his contempt for titles of honor, which he looked upon as 
beneath the name of O'Neill. The commissioners of the Queen 
received from him the following reply : "If Elizabeth, your 
mistress, be Queen of England, I am O'Neill King of Ulster. 
I never made peace with her without having been solicited to do 
so by her. I want none of her titles. My family and birth raise 
me above it. My ancestors were kings. I have gained my 
kingdom with my sword. I will preserve it." 

The English finding O'Neill determined on resistance, took 
possession of Derry, and converted the Church of St. Columb 
into a magazine for powder and warlike stores. *The clergy 
were driven out and the ornaments broken. O'Neill saw plainly 
that it was against his interest to suffer an enemy to establish 
a garrison so near and always ready to attack him. He marched, 
therefore, to Derry without loss of time, with a large force, and 



History of Ireland. 57 

posted himself within two miles of town. Next day the maga- 
zine blew up, killing Randulph the English commander and 
nearly seven hundred men. In an engagement next day in the 
open field seven hundred of the English Avere slain, besides sev- 
eral officers lately arrived from England. 

Though O'Neill was brave and his vassals well disciplined, 
still they fought better in the field than in their attacks on towns 
and in defending them. The Deputy was more frequently vic- 
torious by stratagem than by force of arms, and was artful 
enough to foment discord between that prince and his neigh- 
bors. He detached Maguire of Fermanagii, a powerful noble- 
man of the country, from his interest, and supported O'Donnell 
against him. So that O'Neill, finding himself hemmed in and 
his forces weakened, was reduced to the alternative of seeking 
safety among his enemies. He had twice defeated the Scotch. 
In the first battle he killed their chief, James McDonnell ; and 
in the second. Surly Boy McDonnell, brother of the latter, was 
taken prisoner. Still his misfortunes forced him to have re- 
course to those whom he had injured. He restored Surly Boy 
to his liberty and set out for Claneboy, where the Scotch, to 
the number of many hundreds, under Alexander, the younger 
brother of Surly Boy, were encamped. O'Neill appeared with 
a few attendants, and was received with politeness ; but the 
Scotch, hoping to receive a reward from the English, slew him 
and all his attendants and sent his head to the Deputy, who 
exposed it on a pole on the Castle of Dublin. 

Such was the end of Shane O'Neill, who had sacrificed all for 
his country. Had his example been followed by the people 
generally, the English would not have succeeded so soon in 
reducing Ireland. English authors have drawn a barbarous 
picture of O'Neill. He possessed certainly some defects ; but 
no reliance can be placed on the word of those who wrote 
against him. He left two sons, Henry and John. After his 
death he was convicted of treason and rebellion, and his estates 
confiscated for the Queen's use by a Parliament held in Dublin 
in 1567. Turlo Lyno, one of the most powerful nobles of the 
family of O'Neill, was acknowledged the O'Neill, with the 



58 History of Ireland. 

Queen's consent; but in order to check his authority she con- 
firmed Hugh, son of Matthew O'Neill, in the title of Baron of 
Tyrone. This year Turlo Lyno, who had taken the title of the 
O'Neill, declared war against the Scotch, and killed Alexander 
McDonnell the murderer of Shane O'Neill. 

Elizabeth desired ardently to rule over the Church in Ireland 
as she did in England. The Deputy adopted every means likely 
to advance her views. For this they took care to send over 
English bishops and other clergy as they expelled the Catholic 
ministers. To these bishops orders were given to suppress all 
Catholic institutions in their several dioceses, and to establish 
schools under the guidance of English Protestants. Laws were 
enacted compelling parents to send their children to these 
schools, and to attend the Protestant service themselves on Sun- 
days, with heavy fines against all who refused, which were 
changed afterwards into the penalties of high treason, so that 
the fidelity of the Catholic to the religion of his fathers was 
made the highest crime. Every individual, both clergy and 
laity, was commanded to acknowledge the ecclesiastical suprem- 
acy of the Queen, and to renounce all obedience to the Pope 
and Church of Rome. 

Many able preachers were now sent over to Ireland, both 
English and Scotch. The principal were Goodman, Cartright, 
Knox, Janson, and Burchly. It was hoped that their great 
eloquence would win the people to them ; but the court finding 
the missionaries unsuccessful, and the Irish still adhering to 
their old religion, determined to change matters and attack the 
heads of the Catholic party. Richard Burke, Earl of Clanrick- 
ard, a powerful nobleman in Connaught, was arrested by order 
of the Queen. Ulic and John, the Earl's two sons, assembled 
their vassals, however, and also took up arms against the Eng- 
lish and thus procured him his freedom. Lombard, the histo- 
rian, says : ' ' The Irish finding the thunder ready to burst and 
crush them, saw no hope save in resistance. In Munster, the 
chiefs of the confederacy were James Fitzmaurice, cousin to the 
Earl of Desmond ;' McCarthy More, Earl of Glencar ; McDon- 
ough, and. some of the McArthys, and Fitzgerald of Imokelly. 



History of Ireland. 59 

The difficulty of the Butlers with the house of Desmond, did 
not prevent Edmond, Edward, and Peter Butler, brothers to 
the Earl of Ormond, from uniting with Fitzmaurice in defense 
of their rehgion. The Earl of Desmond, whose memory should 
be ever dear to the Catholics of Ireland, was still a prisoner in 
the Tower of London. He had entrusted the care of his estates 
to James Fitzmaurice, his relative ; but Ormond and Thomond, 
more politic, but less religious than Desmond, had already sac- 
rificed their religion, and the freedom of their country, to am- 
bition and the favor of the Queen of England. The first step 
of the confederates was to depute the Bishop of Cashel and 
one of the sons of the Earl of Desmond to bear letters to the 
Pope and the King of Spain, to solicit their assistance. Sidney 
being informed of their movements, proclaimed them all trai- 
tors, and dispatched Sir Peter Carew with troops against 
Edmond Butler. Carew took Butler's castle by surprise and gave 
it up to plunder. He then marched to Kilkenny, where he 
defeated some troops. About this time, several hostages of 
northern lords, who were prisoners in Dublin, made their 
escape, as was suspected by the connivance of the Deputy. They 
were hotly pursued. Young O'Donnell, whose seizure by 
Perrot has been already mentioned, and one of the O'Neills, 
sought refuge among the peasants in the vicinity of Dublin." 
The winter was uncommonly severe, and the power of the gov- 
ernment justly dreaded, and the friends on whom the young 
noblemen relied too weak or too cowardly to afford them pro- 
tection. After some days their pursuers found them in a mis- 
erable hovel, where young O'Neill was dying of hunger, and 
O'Donnell deprived of the use of his limbs by cold and fatigue. 
The latter was brought to Dublin, where his health was finally 
restored ; but his hatred of the government, which had sub- 
jected him to so much misery, became for the future a fixed 
principle of action. A still more atrocious outrage increased 
the hostility of the Irish. Fitz William, under pretence of 
settling some disputed claims to property, marched into Mon- 
ah'an, the territory of a chief named McMahon, and arrested 
that nobleman on a charge of treason. McMahon was tried by 



60 History of Ireland. 

a jury of common soldiers, found guilty as a matter of course, 
and, to his utter astonishment, sentenced to immediate execu- 
tion. This judicial murder was followed by the immediate for- 
feiture of the chieftain's lands, whjch were shared between the 
unprincipled Fitz William and Sir Henry Bagnell, his worthy 
associate. O'Neill viewed with alarm this infamous transac- 
tion, and began secretly to prepare for a struggle which he 
knew could not much longer be averted. 

While the Deburgos, or Burkes, were in arms in Connaught, 
Bmgham sent commissioners to them to propose terms of 
peace, and to learn the cause of their disturbing the country. 
They answered : "What have we to do with this bastard," 
(meaning Elizabeth) ; "we have too long submitted to the 
tyrant." Perrot, finding a powerful faction raised against him, 
was obliged to resign. His last act cast a shade upon his char- 
acter. The Earl of Tryconnell having opposed Elizabeth, Per- 
rot procured a ship disguised as a Spanish vessel laden with 
wine. By his order, the captain proceeded to the coast of 
Tryconnell, invited the chieftain's son on board to taste his 
wines, and, as soon as he stepped on deck, made him a pris- 
oner and conveyed him to Dublin, where he was held as a 
hostage for his father's fidelity. Perrot assured the Queen that 
he could govern her Irish subjects without difficulty, but no 
power on earth could control her English servants. He 
resigned the sword of state to Fitz William, saying that he left 
the country in peace, and that even as a private man he would 
engage to quell any disturbance in twenty days without vio- 
lence or contest. The day he left Ireland was a day of national 
mourning, in which the native Irish and the English settlers 
joined, with the exception of the official plunderers whose 
rapacity he had restrained. Vast crowds accompanied him to 
the water side, whose shouts in his praise were mingled with 
lamentations for his loss ; and not the least interesting figure of 
the group was old Turlo O'Neill of Tyrone, whose grief for the 
departure of his protector was inconsolable. Fitz William had 
but one object in view, his own private interest, and in pursuit 



History of Ireland. 61 

of that he disregarded even the appearance of justice and 
decency. 

James Fitzmaurice continued to devastate the lands of the 
Queen's partisans in Munster, having defeated them at Kihnal- 
lock, where Colonel Morgan was slain and his troops dispersed. 
The Queen, alarmed at the success of Fitzmaurice, sent orders 
to her Deputy to offer him terms of peace, saying she desired 
more to preserve her authority in Ireland than to persecute 
religion. Fitzmaurice agreed to lay down his arms, provided the 
persecution of the Catholics should cease, and that the Earl of 
Desmond and his brother John, who were prisoners in the 
Tower, would be set at liberty. To these terms she readily 
consented, and the Earl and his brother were set at liberty 
Elizabeth dismissed them with apparent kindness, promising to 
fulfill the treaty she had made with Fitzmaurice. The deceit- 
ful princess, however, sent orders to the captain of the ship 
that carried them home to give them up to the Deputy in Dub- 
lin. She also sent a message to the Deputy to hold the Earl in 
Dublin and send his brother John to Munster, to bring James 
Fitzmaurice with him, th'at the three might sign the treaty 
together. Such was the motive assigned, but the object was to 
have the three beheaded together. The Earl being apprised 
of her design fled immediately. He owed his life to the swift- 
ness of his horse, by which he arrived, after five days, with his 
brother and cousin, in the remotest part of the County Kerry. 
The Earl of Desmond was so incensed against the English by 
this last act of treachery, that he made war on them with more 
vigor than before ; whereupon he was proclaimed a traitor, and 
a reward offered of a thousand pounds sterling, and forty 
pounds a year for life, to any one who would give him up alive, 
or five hundred pounds and twenty pounds a year for his head. 
The Deputy marched his forces to Munster to quell the dis- 
turbance caused by the Fitzgeralds, and gave, in his absence, 
the government of the English province to the Earl of Kil- 
dare. 

War was not the only scourge with which Ireland was 
afflicted at this time. The plague carried away numbers in the 



62 History of Ireland. 

English province, while the Irish were everywhere up in arms. 
The Deputy, having learned that Surly Boy McDonnell was 
laying siege to Carrickfergus, and had killed forty men and 
their commander, Captain Baker, he marched at the head of 
six hundred men, and forced McDonnell to abandon his enter- 
prise. He then tried to make peace with the O'Neills, O'Don- 
nells, McMahons, Maguires and other nobles of the north. 

The plague ceased in Dublin, and in the English province, in 
1576, but the tyranny of the English was a continual scourge. 
The country appeared a desert ; the crops were destroyed by 
the marching and the counter-marching of troops, after whom 
nothing was to be seen but wretchedness and desolation. In 
the Deputy's letters to the Queen on this subject, he complained 
that the undertakers in the province were so poor and so few in 
number that he was obliged to leave a garrison of soldiers to 
protect them, while the produce they grew did not amount to a 
tenth part of what it cost the crown to support them. These 
undertakers were needy Englishmen, who were sent over to 
establish a colony in those counties where the lands were con- 
fiscated under the pretext of their owners having rebelled. The 
affairs of religion were .not more prosperous than those of gov- 
ernment. The churches were abandoned, the priests were dis- 
persed, the children left without baptism and brought up in 
ignorance, the natural consequence of one religion endeavoring 
to run out another. The clergy of the old religion were driven 
out, while those of the new were too indolent to fill their places ; 
when they preached no one came to listen, they were shep- 
herds without a flock. 

The war recommenced with great activity, but no decisive 
action was fought. O'Neill, with consummate ability, avoided 
every attempt to force him to a general engagement, and broke 
through the hostile lines when attempts were made to blockade 
his troops. Mountjoy suspected some of the members of his 
government of supplying the Irish with information, and 
strange events made him believe that Ormond was the traitor. 
Carew was invited by Ormond to attend a conference with 
O' Moore, who had made proposals of submission. Carew and 



History of Ireland. 63 

Thomond wished to be attended by a troop of horse, but Or- 
mond refused to take more than seventeen men. The place of 
meeting- was in the vicinity of a wood, behind which O' Moore 
had stationed a numerous band, in addition to a large body of 
pikemen, by v/hom he was attended. During the discussion, 
O' Moore's followers gradually advanced, while Carew in vain 
warned Ormond of his danger. At length they seized Ormond, 
but Carew and Thomond escaped by the swiftness of their 
horses. Ormond was long detained a prisoner, for Mountjoy 
rejected the terms of ransom asked by O' Moore. 

The system of war pursued by Mountjoy and Carew, was 
that found so effectual in destroying the Earl of Desmond. 
Bribes were offered the inferior chiefs for desertion ; rivals were 
encouraged to claim the estates of those who still adhered to 
O'Neill. The houses were destroyed, the corn-fields consumed, 
fire and famine were once more brought to the aid of slaughter. 
Carew was naturally cruel and rapacious, a deliberate rewarder 
of treachery, and not ashamed to avow and defend perfidy and 
assassination. When any of the Irish asked his protection, it 
was given only on condition that the person protected should 
show his loyalty by murdering a friend or relative ; and this 
detestable practice, Taylor says, he vindicates in his letters, and 
the Queen approves of it as a wise and justifiable policy. De- 
vastation greatly reduced O'Neill's strength. His adversaries 
had their supplies from England. His resources were destroyed 
when his fields were wasted ; still he bravely continued the Avar. 
He was well aware that the late promises of the English were 
insincere, especially as no provision was made for the removal 
of grievances which had caused the war. Grievous exactions 
were made from the owners of land ; jurors were packed in the 
most open and shameful manner; innocent persons were exe- 
cuted, often without the formality of a trial, or, when that was 
granted, by a verdict of a tribunal whose forms were a cruel 
mockery. The penal laws were enforced against all who were 
absent from the High Church on Sundays, and the Protestants 
drove the natives from their lands without the pretence of a 
claim. Thus England suppressed what she called a rebellion 



64 History of Ireland. 

in Ireland, sweeping the country with fire, steel and theft, in a 
way to make demons blush. The knowledge of these things 
induced O'Neill to persevere, though he knew that his chances 
of final success were diminishing every day. In Munster Carew 
had reduced the great chiefs and had several in prison. The 
long expected succors from Spain at last arrived ; but the Eng- 
lish had sufficient warning, and were prepared for their recep- 
tion. The expedition was the worst planned and worst exe- 
cuted imaginable. It had been delayed too long. Its prepara- 
tion was made so openly that it would seem observation had 
been courted. It was miserable in amount, and its leader was 
wretchedly incompetent. 

Don Juan d'Acquiila, to whom Phillip had entrusted a small 
fleet and two thousand men, landed in the south of Ireland, 
while O'Neill, to whose assistance he had come, was shut up in 
the extreme north. Scarcely had he landed, when he person- 
ally insulted O'Sullivan Beare, the first noble who offered him 
assistance, and thus at once disgusted the southern Celts. To 
add to his confusion, Carew and Mountjoy, having collected a 
powerful army, invested Kinsale, where he landed, and pushed 
the siege with vigor. O'Neill was not a little perplexed by the 
awkward position of the Spaniards. A march through an ex- 
hausted country in the depth of winter, and with forces already 
disheartened, was an enterprise full of danger. On the other 
hand, it was clear that Don Juan, unless speedily relieved, 
would be forced to surrender. The Spaniard was already dis- 
gusted with the expedition ; and, while he answered the sum- 
mons of Mountjoy with ridicule, he sent the most urgent and 
angry letters to O'Neill and O'Donnell, soliciting their aid. 
The march of the Irish army sufficiently proves the ability of 
the leaders, and the zeal of their followers. Notwithstanding 
the difficulties of the country, they advanced with their baggage 
and artillery at the rate of forty miles a day; and, by their 
endurance, baffled the Deputy who marched to intercept them. 
Nearly at the time O'Neill arrived before Kinsale, a second 
Spanish fleet arrived in the bay, and were enthusiastically 
received by the people. Several, who had hitherto held aloof, 



History of Ireland. 65 

now took up arms, and O'Neill was thus enabled to blockade 
the English in their camp. Mountjoy's army was thus placed 
in a most perilous situation. They were at once besiegers and 
besieged ; their supplies from the country were cut off, and the 
sea, which the British fleet had kept open to them, was still a 
precarious ground of confidence. In fact, nothing was wanted 
for the complete ruin of an army on whom the fate of a king- 
dom depended, but that the Irish army should remain quietly 
in the position it had selected. 

O'Neill knew his advantages well, and could not be tempted, 
by all the arts ot the British leader, to quit his entrenchments ; 
but the proud Spaniard was eager to show his valor in a pitched 
battle. Mountjoy, having discovered, by his spies, the feelings 
of Don Juan, made use of the most ingenious artifices to in- 
crease his daring. He sent pretended deserters into his camp, 
who described the English army as disorganized, and asserted 
that the soldiers were so worn down with fatigue and famine 
that they could offer little resistance. Don Juan wrote the most 
pressing letters to O'Neill, urging him to crush the English at 
once, and promising to aid him by a sally from the town. 
O'Neill continued to refuse; but the chiefs, by whom he was 
supported, joined in the solicitation of the Spaniard, and an 
unwilling assent was at length wrung from the gallant chieftain. 
It was at length resolved to attack the English camp by night. 
The spies revealed the plan to Mountjoy, and he made his prep- 
arations accordingly. The moment that O'Neill saw the Eng- 
lish lines, he knew he was betra3^ed. On the instant he resolved 
to change his plan of action ; but his orders were misunder- 
stood by a portion of the troops, and his lines were thus broken. 
Wingfield's cavalry passed through this fatal gap and the battle 
was lost. O'Neill made desperate efforts to retrieve the for- 
tunes of the day, but he was badly seconded by the other lead- 
ers, and forced at length to fly. The carnage was dreadful. 
No quarter was' given except to a few of the Spaniards ; and 
the Irish lords, who were made prisoners, were hanged next 
morning. O'Neill tried to persuade his followers to try the 



66 History of Ireland. 

chances of another battle ; but their spirits were broken, and 
they almost unanimously resolved to return home. 

The Spaniards still held Kinsale. Don Juan, the commander, 
now offered to capitulate. Like a true Spaniard, he raised 
scruples on trifling points, but neglected matters of importance. 
Mountjoy, wishing to terminate the war as speedily as possi- 
ble, made some sacrifices to Spanish pride, and obtained a sur- 
render of all posts garrisoned by the Spaniards. 

O'Sullivan, an Irish chief of some note, was by no means 
pleased with this arrangement. He turned the Spaniards out 
of his castle at Dunboy, garrisoned it with his own followers, 
and resolved to defend it. The strength of this castle caused a 
heavy loss of men to the English. At length a breach was 
made, but the garrison refused to yield. They fought the Eng- 
lish from room to room ; and, when driven into the cellar, 
made a desperate but fortunately a vain attempt to blow up the 
victors and vanquished, by throwing a match into a barrel of 
gunpowder. The Avar in Munster was now for the first time 
over. The principal Irish lords, who. escaped the sword or the 
gallows, fled to Spain, where their descendants may still be 
found. O'Sullivan Beare refused to become an exile ; and, col- 
lecting the remnant of his followers, maintained a predatory 
warfare under cover of the western bogs and mountains. This 
hopeless contest was attended by a horrid waste of life, for 
both parties invariably murdered their prisoners. O'Sullivan 
was finally reduced to such straits, by the cruelty of the Eng- 
lish, that he resolved to force his way into Ulster and unite his 
forces with those of O'Neill. Carew sent a body of troops to 
harrass their march ; ■ but, maddened by despair, they turned on 
their pursuers and gave them battle. The Irish suffered 
severely in this contest, but not a single Englishman escaped. 

The war of desolation was now renewed in the north ; and 
O'Neill saw, everyday, his followers perishing by famine. His 
hopes from Spain were gone; and his allies were either in exile, 
or had purchased a precarious safety. 

Hugh O'Donnell, soon after his escape from Dublin, married 
the daughter of O'Neill, and soon after succeeded his father as 



History of Ireland. 67 

Earl of Tryconnell. Irritated by his sufferings he took up 
arms against the Enghsh, and prevailed on several others, par- 
ticularly the Burks, to follow his example. O'Neill was now 
embarrassed. His countrymen unanimously invited him to be- 
come their leader in war. He after a long and anxious delay, 
took the decisive step of attacking the English garrison, sta- 
tioned at a fort called Blackwater. 

On the first news of hostilities a force of two thousand veter- 
ans were sent to Ireland, and soon after Sir John Norris, a 
general of proved skill and valor, was appointed to take com- 
mand of the army. O'Neill wrote to Norris, stating the reasons 
why he made war. Bagnell intercepted some of his letters but 
others reached Norris and led to a general conference. Norris, 
who was an honest as well as an able man, vv^as convinced of the 
injustice which had driven them to arms, and labored to effect 
a peace. But the arrangement was often protracted by renewed 
hostilities. In fact, with the single exception of Norris, none of 
the parties sincerely desired peace. The Irish lords were now 
conscious of their strength. Their late successes were sufficient 
to inspire confidence, and the English were eager to enrich them- 
selves by new confiscations, and threw every obstacle in the way 
of settlement. O'Neill saw that reconcilement was impossible ; 
though he said, "I might safely make peace with a man of 
honor, like Norris ; but what security have I for the character of 
his successor?" 

The little progress made by Norris in subduing the Irish, cre- 
ated disappointment and displeasure in England. The states- 
men of England made no allowance for the difficulties of a 
country where a defensible military position may be found at 
every mile ; where morasses, rocks and mountains baffled the 
invaders. Essex, ^Elizabeth's favorite for the time being, was 
personally opposed to Norris. By his influence Norris was de- 
prived of power, and his partisan, Lord Burgh, invested with 
both civil and military authority. Norris retired home, 
where he soon after died of a broken heart, in consequence of 
the unmerited stain cast upon his reputation. The career of 
Burg"h v/as brief and disastrous. He advanced toward Ulster 



68 History of Ireland. 

with a power apparently sufficient to bear down all opposition. 
O'Neill, on his part, displayed equal industry and greater skill. 
He sent Tyrell, his lieutenant, to rouse his friends in Connaught, 
while he himself collected all his partisans in Ulster. Tyrell 
obtained some signal advantages. He defeated and captured 
the son of Lord Trimbleston, while leading his father's vassals 
to the assistance of the Deputy ; and he forced Clifford, who 
was leading another party, to make a calamitous retreat. Burgh 
undaunted by these reverses, boldly attacked O'Neill in his lines 
near Armagh, and after a fierce fight drove the Irish from their 
entrenchments. O'Neill retired to another and better position, 
which the English inconsiderately assailed. They were defeated ; 
and Lord Burgh, with the flower of his army, fell in the conflict. 
Kildare now took the command, but made little effort. He did 
not long retain his post ; but died in grief for the loss of his two 
brothers, who were slain in rescuing him from the enemy. 

The cavalry, in their passage through Leix, suffered severely 
from an attack of the O'Moores ; and such was the quantity of 
feathers lost by the officers that the Irish named the place of 
action, "The Pass of the Plumes." The O'Burnes of Leinster, 
with inferior forces, severely and shamefully defeated another 
division of the P2nglish ; and P^ssex could only show his vexa- 
tion by punishing the common soldiers and cashiering the offi- 
cers. 

Elizabeth, who had expected rapid success from the well- 
known valor of her paramour, was irritated by the news of these 
reverses. She answered his letters detailing plans of pacifica- 
tion, with severe reprimands, and could with difficulty be per- 
suaded to grant him reinforcements. 

The dispatches from Essex to the Queen show both benev- 
olence and wisdom. He earnestly presses on her the necessity 
of conciliation and concession, and solicits her attention to the 
interests of the people. The answer to all this was a peremptory 
order to march into the north. 

While the P^arl was advancing through Ulster, Clifford, who 
led an army to his assistance, fell into an ambuscade contrived 
by O'Rourk, in Connaught, and was slain. His army suffered 



History of Ireland. 69 

only a trifling loss, but his soldiers retreated in flight to their 
garrison. Essex advanced to the banks of the Blackwater, but 
O'Neill had by this time learned the character of his opponent, 
and offered to open a negotiation. Essex willingly lent an ear 
to the crafty chief, and granted a personal interview. The two 
generals led their armies to the opposite banks of the river, and 
then rode to a neighboring ford. Scarcely had the Deputy's 
charger touched the water, when O'Neill spurred his horse 
through the stream, while the water rose above his saddle, and 
crossed over to pay his respects. This delicate compliment 
completely won the confidence of Essex. He at once entered 
into conversation with the Irish Chieftain, and rode with him 
along the bank of the river, in sight of the wondering armies. 
This conference lasted a long time, and speculation was busy 
in guessing the subjects they discussed. It is probable that 
O'Neill, well acquainted with the intrigues of the court, warned 
Essex of the plots of his enemies, and promised to assist in 
their overthrow. Finally, the officers of both armies were 
called, and in their presence, O'Neill, having stated the griev- 
ances by Avhich he was driven to revolt, proposed terms of 
accommodation. A truce of six weeks was established, in 
order to afford time for due consideration of several articles, 
and the English army returned to their cjuarters in Leinster. 
The indignation of Elizabeth, at this strange termination of a 
campaign from which she had expected so much, was violent. 
She wrote a severe letter to the Deputy, condemning his con- 
duct in no measured terms. Essex at first thought of leading 
his army into England, and forcing his way into the presence 
of the Queen ; but, being dissuaded by his friend, he adopted 
a course scarcely less pernicious, and resigned his office and 
departed to England alone. The rest of his tragical story is 
known to the readers of English history. 

We must return to the affairs of Ireland. Ormond, who. was 
appointed to the command of the army, wished to make peace 
with O'Neill, but that chief was now resolved to continue the 
war. He had the promise of assistance from Spain, and the 
Pope sent him a plume made of the feathers of the Phoenix. 



70 History of Ireland. 

A few petty scrimmages continued for some time. In one of 
these, St. Leger and Sir T. Norris, the two ablest EngHsh offi- 
cers, were slain. 

A. D. 1590, Lord Mountjoy was appointed by the Queen 
to the hazardous post of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. He was 
assisted by the Earl of Ormond and Sir George Carew, then 
President of Munster. 

The attachment of the Irish to the Catholic religion has been 
unexampled. Notwithstanding the severe laws that were 
enacted by Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, Elizabeth, 
James the First, Cromwell, William the Third and Queen 
Ann, it is a well established truth that, during the period of 
all those reigns, the number of Irish, who embraced the new 
religion did not amount to sixty in a population of over two 
million of souls. With all her power, Elizabeth could not 
boast of having established her religion in Ireland. 

In the meantime, Essex, the Deputy, undertook, another 
expedition into Ulster, which proved fatal to him. He had 
many enemies at court, the most formidable of whom was the 
Earl of Leicester, who was the favorite now of Elizabeth, and 
a sworn enemy to Essex, who was forced soon after to resign 
his command. The insult was too great to be borne ; he was 
seized Avith dysentery and died in Dublin, leaving a son ten 
years old. Leicester was suspected of having Essex poisoned, 
which is not improbable, as Leicester had seduced the wife of 
Essex during his lifetime, and married her after his death. 

Francis Cosby, being appointed Governor of Leix, ruled that 
country as a true tyrant. His son, Alexander, was equally 
cruel ; having called a meeting of the principal inhabitants, 
under pretense of public welfare, he had them all murdered by 
assassins posted there for the purpose. Over two hundred men 
were put to death on this occasion. Ware says : " This tyrant 
took such delight in putting Catholics to the torture, that he 
hanged dozens of women and children on an elm tree in his 
door-yard at Stranbally, where he resided." 

Charles O'Connor was not indifferent to the su^erings of the 
Catholics, being joined by Mageoghan of Cashell. They took 



History of Ireland. 71 

up arms and gave many a check to the tyrants. An English- 
man, named Macforty, sent by the Queen to assasshiate O'Con- 
nor, fell by the sword of him he came to murder. 

Sir Henry Sidney, disgusted with the office of Governor, 
solicited his recall, and resigned the sword of justice to Drury, 
President of Munster. Sidney Avas considered an upright man. 
He had filled high offices in England with integrity ; and it is 
affirmed that he never, though four times Lord-Justice and three 
times Deputy of Ireland, appropriated to his own use one acre 
of land in that country, which was a rare example among Eng- 
lishmen. 

Cox says the Queen, having no important wars to maintain, 
turned all her thoughts to Ireland. The Earl of Ormond, who 
commanded the Queen's troops in Adare, marched to Butevant, 
where his army suffered from a malady, which they termed the 
" mild correction, " a kind of headache which lasted two or 
three days, and deprived those who were afflicted by it of their 
understanding ; it was not, however, fatal to many. After the 
contagion had ceased, Ormond marched with his army to Din- 
gle, plundering the country as he went, and shedding the blood 
of Catholics without mercy : so that not one would have 
escaped had it not been for the protection granted to some by 
Sir William Winter, the English Admiral who commanded a 
squadron in Bantry Bay. 

Even the retainers of the government themselves were 
ashamed of the outrageous conduct of the Deputy. Kildare, 
his son Lord Offly, and his son-in-law Lord Delvin, were sent 
for trial to England. The charges brought against them were 
disproved to the satisfaction of even the cruel Elizabeth. The 
outcry against Grey's military cruelties and judicial murders, 
became now too loud to be disregarded. The acquittal of Kil- 
dare, the principal as was asserted in the pretended conspiracy, 
proved the innocence of Nugent and the others who had been 
executed as accessories. The people of England, always just 
when they are calm, joined in the clamor, and the nations of 
Europe were horrified at the barbarities and butcheries perpe- 
trated in Ireland. 



72 



History of Ireland. 



The Queen was now assured, with truth, that, in consequence 
of Grey's tyranny, little remained for her to rule over in Ireland 
but ashes and carcasses. Moved, not by pity but policy, she 
recalled Grey, and appointed Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin, in 
his stead, and offered pardon to all in Ireland who would lay 
down their arms. Before this the Desmond war was finished. 
Sir John Desmond fell in battle, and the old Earl had become 
a wanderer. 

A. D. 1583, Ormond, with disgraceful zeal, pursued his old 
rival and chased him from all his retreats. One evening a party 
of English soldiers, in passing through a valley, saw a light in 
a small hut at a distance ; and supposing they had discovered 
a party of rebels they cautiously advanced. On entering they 
found an old man of venerable aspect stretched before the fire. 
"Spare me," he exclaimed, "I am the Earl of Desmond." 
The aged nobleman was slain, and his head sent to the Queen, 
and by that tyrant's direction it was impaled on London 
Bridge. 

Thus fell the head of the oldest branch of the Geraldines, a 
family which during four centuries had held the chief power in 
Munster, and had always proved too strong to be governed by 
the English. The old Earl was driven into rebellion by the 
malignity of Ormond and others who coveted his estates. The 
war against him was marked by every cruelty that could dis- 
grace human nature, and the peace effected was the desolation 
and stillness of the grave. "They made a solitude and called 
it peace." 

Sir John Perrot was now sent over as chief Governor of Ire- 
land. No appointment could have been more judicious. His 
character was not sullied by the craft of Sidney or the cruelty 
of Grey. In abilities he was superior to either. He was the 
first English Governor who tried to conciliate the native Irish 
by impartial justice, and the success Avhich attended the exper- 
iment proved how easily might England have won the affections 
of that ardent race. His first act was to publish a general 
amnesty, and to strictly prohibit the outrages of the soldiers, 
too often encouraged by their commanders. The Desmond 



History of Ireland. 73 

estates amounted to 600,000 acres, and it was necessary to 
summon a Parliament in order that this vast property should be 
vested in the crown. A host of hungry expectants eagerly 
waited the event, hoping that rich estates would reward the 
crimes which had brought about the confiscation. Perrot did 
not adopt the English art of constructing an obedient Parlia- 
ment. There was no secret interference in the election, and 
members fairly representing the people were returned. In this 
assembly we find several of the original Irish families in delib- 
eration with the settlers of the Pale. Cavan was represented 
by two of the ancient house of O'Reilly, O'Brien was returned 
for Clare, the county of Down sent Hugh Maginnis, John 
McBrien was member for Antrim, and Longford sent two O'Far- 
rells. In the upper House sat two bishops, both professed 
Catholics from Cloher and Raphoe, and the great O'Neill took 
his seat as Earl of Tyrone. Never did any government meet 
a more hostile legislature. Thirteen bills transmitted from 
England were rejected. The ordinary subsidies were with- 
held, and two acts only were passed during the session. The 
cause of this was the general horror which the iniquitous pro- 
ceedings against the Earl of Desmond had occasioned. The 
great lords of English descent, who had cheered on the blood- 
hounds to run down O'Neill, were alarmed by the destruction 
of the greatest of their own party, and felt sympathy for the 
fate of one connected with most of them by marriage or blood. 
They also saw the country placed at the mercy of bankrupt 
adventurers and a licentious soldiery, whose excesses had been 
encouraged rather than controlled. The policy of exciting 
rebellions, in order to reward favorites by confiscation, had 
been openly avowed ; and finally the barbarous system of crush- 
ing the resources of Ireland, lest if cultivated they might ena- 
ble that country to rival England or perhaps gain independence, 
had been advocated in the English Parliament. The Irish saw 
measures taken for their destruction and therefore met the gov- 
ernment with the most obstinate resistance. Perrot, aware 
that the opposition had good grounds for suspicion and com- 
plaint, showed neither surprise nor resentment at the defeat of 



74 History of Ireland. 

his measures. He diligently applied himself to the improve- 
ment of the country. His first care was to assure all parties 
of protection in person and property ; to administer justice 
without regard to sect or party, and to reform the abuses that 
had been encouraged by his predecessors. In this he was suc- 
cessful. The native Irish, pleased with even the appearance of 
equal justice, vied with each other in their expressions of loy- 
alty and allegiance. 

The lords of the Pale laid aside their sullenness and crowded 
to the court of the Deputy ; the feuds between the barons were 
suspended, and opportunity was apparently offered of removing 
at once and forever the load of evil which had been accumu- 
lating for centuries. 

But Perrot found that Elizabeth viewed his popularity with 
suspicion. The creatures of the late government still held their 
offices in the Castle. Long used to corrupt practices they 
naturally detested honesty, and labored, not without success, to 
counteract the wise measures of the Deputy. 

Nor are we to be surprised at this state of affairs. Within 
our own memory, and even to the present, Ireland has often 
exhibited the strange scene of a good government checked and 
insulted by its own underlings, who formed a cabal which the 
executive wanted either the spirit or the power to break up. 

Unfortunately Perrot added the church to the number of his 
enemies by proposing a scheme which was more just than pru- 
dent. Believing that one Cathedral was enough in Dublin, he 
proposed that the other should be converted into a University 
and its revenues used for the diffusion of education. Loftus, 
the Protestant Archbishop, immediately became Perrot's most 
bitter enemy. The most wicked forgeries were transmitted to 
England against him. The most mischievous was a pretended 
protection granted to Catholic priests. This raised the ire of 
Elizabeth. Thenceforward she treated Perrot with mortifying 
coldness, and slighted the advice of the only honest servant she 
ever employed in Ireland. She employed Fenton, Under-Sec- 
retary of State, as a spy upon his actions, and found this func- 



History of Ireland, 75 

tionary to faithfully fulfill his duties in this honorable situa- 
tion. 

The popularity of Perrot was fully proved in the second ses- 
sion of the Irish Parliament. The bills for the regulation of 
public affairs, and the 'raising of necessary supplies were passed 
almost unanimously, but the forfeiture of the Desmond prop- 
erty was still resisted. At length, after a fierce struggle, acts 
were passed for the attainder of the deceased lord and one 
hundred of his associates, all of whose immense estates were 
vested in the crown. 

The great object which Elizabeth's ministers had so long 
pursued was now attained. An opportunity was offered for 
planting, as it was called, an English colony in Ireland. The 
needy followers of the court, the younger brothers of noble 
families, and adventurers of a more questionable description, 
Avere invited to become undertakers, as those who received 
grants were called. The lands were granted at a nominal rent, 
on condition that they should be let to none but Enghsh ten- 
ants ; that the undertakers should support a garrison on the 
frontiers of the province, and should not permit any of the 
native Irish to settle on their estates. The scheme of the plan- 
tation totally failed. The undertakers scandalously violated 
their, contract. The confiscation in Munster proved as ruinous 
to the power and interest of the crown as it was iniquitous in 
itself The new proprietors, suddenly raised to wealth, disre- 
garded the Queen's authority, and, being supported by the 
local government, were enabled to indulge in excesses and 
outrages with impunity. The Queen, still jealous of Perrot, 
gave the privy council power over him. The loss of his influ- 
ence was soon felt. Bingham by tyranny drove the De Burghos 
to revolt. The disturbance was quelled, not without some 
barbarous murders, which Perrot was unable to prevent ; and the 
Queen's officers, no longer dreading the Deputy, persecuted the 
unfortunate Irish with severity. 

Taylor says, the war against Desmond was conducted with 
a ferocious cruelty unsurpassed in the history of mankind. 
Fire, famine, and slaughter together desolated the best part of 



76 History of Ireland. 

Munster. From the savage rage of a reckless soldiery inno- 
cence was no protection. Helpless infancy and tottering age 
found no mercy. Admiral Winter was shocked by the horrid 
massacre, and granted protection to a few who escaped to his 
fleet. Will it be believed that even this partial mercy was 
denounced by the Queen, who would be satisfied with nothing 
short of killing them every one. The unfortunate earl bravely 
prepared to sell his life as dearly as possible, and made several 
gallant attacks on his enemies. In one of these he captured the 
town of Youghall, and soon after defeated Ormond, who was 
advancing to succor that town. Yet, from the beginning, Des- 
mond despaired of final success. He offered to surrender to 
Admiral Winter, on condition of being sent to England to 
plead his cause before the Queen, and was sternly refused. 
Arthur Lord Grey, the Queen's Deputy in Ireland at this time, 
has a name pre- eminently cruel. His first enterprise was an attack 
on the O' Byrnes, who were said to have joined Lord Baltinglass 
in alliance with the Geraldines, and to have formed a camp 
within twenty miles of Dublin. The station chosen by the 
Irish was in one of those wild and romantic valleys in the 
County Wicklow, which are now so often visited by the admir- 
ers of sublime scenery. The principal station was Glendalough, 
where the massive ruins of seven churches attest the former 
piety of Ireland. Here, secured by rock and mountain, and lake 
and morass, a numerous force collected, unable indeed to meet 
regular troops in the field, but strong enough to defy myriads 
in their fastnesses. Experienced officers remonstrated with the 
Deputy when commanded to attack this impregnable position ; 
but they were answered with reproach, and an immediate assault 
was ordered. The soldiers advanced through ground which 
became more difficult with every step, and at last were en- 
tangled in a bog where it became impossible to preserve order. 
While thus confused and broken, they were suddenly exposed 
to a murderous fire that opened at once on front, flank and rear 
from the woods and rocks that skirted the ravine. No exertion 
of the officers could save this army ; they were cut off almost 
to a man. A miserable remnant escaped to join the Deputy, 



History of Ireland. 77 

who returned to Dublin covered with shame and confusion. 
This severe repulse enraged the Deputy and rendered his hatred 
of the Irish more inveterate. To retrieve his fame he made 
preparation to march to Munster. When he heard the alarm- 
ing intelligence that a large army of Spaniards had landed there ; 
that they brought with them arms for five thousand men, and a 
large sum of money which they were directed to place at the 
disposal of the Earl of Desmond. This Spanish force was 
miserably inadequate, and as they had been sent without pre- 
vious concert, the Irish were unprepared for their reception. 
Scarcely had they landed when they were attacked by the Earl 
of Ormond. He indeed gained no advantage, but he held 
them in aheck until the coming up of the Queen's forces from 
Dubhn. At the same time an English fleet appeared off the 
coast, and the Spaniards were blockaded in their entrenchments 
both by sea and land. Whether they surrendered on terms, 
or at discretion, the atrocity that followed is inexcusable. 
Grey ordered them every man to be butchered, and his orders 
were executed in the spirit in which they were given. 

In the Irish Statutes, page 3 10, we find that a Parliament was 
held in Dublin this year, by which several acts were passed ; 
among others, one giving to her Majesty a right to estates in the 
county of Kildare, belonging to Christopher Eustace, who was 
executed under Henry the Eighth for high treason ; also the 
estates of Thos. Fitzgerald, Knight of the Glen, in County 
Limerick, and also of his son Thomas, were confiscated at the 
same time. 

Turlo Lyno O'Neill, chief of that illustrious house, con- 
tinued to support the cause of religion in Ulster. The noble- 
men of Ulster and Scotland made frequent alliances about this 
time. O'Neill married the Duke of Argyle's sister, and had 
Scotch troops in his pay. This prince was planning an expe- 
dition against the English province, but was prevented by an 
accident from carrying it into execution. The Queen this year 
had prayer-books printed in the Irish language, in order to 
seduce the people, but her efforts did not succeed. 

Thomas Smith, an Englishman, and counsellor of the Queen, 



78 History of Ireland. 

finding that his countrymen were making fortunes in Ireland 
at the expense of the old inhabitants, and wishing to share in 
the spoil, asked permission of his royal mistress to send over 
his son to found an English colony at Ards, in Ulster. He had 
two objects in view ; first to steal an estate for his son, and, 
secondly, to conceal from posterity the ignominy of his birth, 
being illegitimate. The Queen having given her consent, young 
Smith was equipped for the enterprise, and with a suitable 
retinue he sailed for Ireland. On arriving at his destination he 
was met by Bryan McArt O'Neill, to whom Ards belonged, 
by whom Smith was slain and his troops dispersed. 

Cambden gives a different account of Smith's failure. He 
assumes first that the Queen had a right to bestow the lands of 
Ards. It is true the Kings of England have often given per- 
mission to their English subjects to seize upon the lands of the 
Irish by force and then call the resistance of the owners rebel- 
lion. Cambden also says that Smith, moved with compassion 
for neglected Ireland, intended to establish in the Ards a col- 
ony of Englishmen, in order to civilize the inhabitants of that 
country. We might think that charity was the motive of 
Smith's conduct, but we are told he had already divided the 
land among his followers, promising to each foot soldier one 
hundred acres, and to horsemen more, according to their rank, 
by paying him an annual rent, without mentioning anything 
for the old proprietor. As to the word barbarous, which Camb- 
den applies to the people of Ards, and the word perfidy to 
Bryan McArt O'Neill, for having killed an enemy who came 
armed to rob him, it is the general style of the English, who 
believe that their adversary's obedience should be measured 
according to their will, and who always define the self-defense 
of those whom they oppress by the term barbarity. 

The Queen this year gave Essex her favorite certain lands she 
had confiscated in Ulster, on condition of his repairing there 
with two hundred horse and four hundred foot soldiers, whom 
he was to support for two years at his own expense. Baker 
says, in order to induce men to join in this expedition, all those 
who should serve in the army two years were to receive two 



History of Ireland. 79 

hundred acres of land, on condition of paying an annual rent of 
two pence per acre. Essex, accompanied by several English 
nobles who wished to share in his fortune, sailed for Ireland, 
and landed at Carrickfergus in August. He Avas met by Turlo 
Lyno O'Neill with a large body of followers, and seeing the 
hostility of the people of Ulster, and his own followers begin- 
ning to desert, he hastily returned to England. 

Dodd says further: "The Reformers in Ireland did not yield 
to their brethren in England in cruelty. They caused many 
good and great men to suffer martyrdom, besides the many 
thousands of men, women and children who suffered death for 
their religion, either by war or famine." 

To judge of the disposition of Elizabeth by her propensities 
and caprices, she was violent in the extreme. The ferocity of 
her father, who could not bear to be controlled, was discover- 
able in the daughter. When anything went contrary to her 
wishes she gave vent to her rage in transports of phrenzy, and 
swore in a manner little suited to her sex, her general oath or 
exclamation being "God's death." 

If political motives prevented Elizabeth from marrying, the 
occurrences of her life are far from sustaining a predilection 
for virginity. She had many favorites, whom she selected for 
their appearance, and with whom her familiarity furnished good 
cause for doubting her virtue. This was known to all, and 
public morals became so low during her reign that her Parlia- 
ment passed a law that any child of the Queen, whether legiti- 
mate or not, should be heir to the throne. This law still stands 
on the statute book of England. Verily a dark blot. 

Dodd winds up by saying : ' ' Never was a nation more unfor- 
tunate than England during her reign." The impartial reader 
can judge whether a good opinion of her can be entertained, or 
whether the means which she made use of were honorable and 
upright. She ended her career in despair ; and it appears that 
God, in His justice, allowed her who had caused so much sor- 
row to others to die without any one to comfort or console her. 
One of her own bishops said during her reign religion was in 
everybody's mouth and in nobody's heart. 



80 History of Ireland. 

O'Meill's proud heart was humbled by witnessing calamities 
which he could not avert and misery he was unable to relieve. 
He now offered terms which Mountjoy readily accepted. Eliz- 
abeth was now on her death-bed, and the enormities she had 
sanctioned in Ireland weighed heavily on her conscience She 
now offered to make some tardy reparation. She sent orders 
to the Deputy to restore O'Driscol to his estate in Carbury, 
and to make peace with O'Neill on easy terms. As O'Driscol 
did not happen to be very formidable, the Deputy first evaded 
and then openly disobeyed the Queen's orders ; but the name 
of O'Neill was still dreaded, and terms of peace were arranged 
with him. But before the news of this pacification could be 
sent to England, the intelligence of the Queen's death was 
received. 



CHAPTER III. 



The Death of Elizabeth— Reign of Janes the First— The Gunpowder 
Plot — Printing of the Bible. 



fHE imperfect subjugation of Ireland cost Elizabeth more 
than three million pounds sterling, and more than a hundred 
thousand soldiers. The unfortunate country was reduced to a 
desert, and at least one half of the people perished by war or 
famine. To banish the nobility of Ireland and divide their 
estates among her favorites was avowedly her object, and in 
pursuit of this the common principles of honesty and decency 
were outraged. The undertakers were in general unprincipled 
adventurers, who showed no mercy to the Irish nor even grat- 
itude to the Queen. They were faithless subjects and cruel 
masters. The peasantry hated them as intruders and despised 
them as upstarts. The Irish nobility when driven into exile 
fled to the continent and obtained employment in the armies of 
France and Spain. They never resigned the hope of again 
returning, and, in a renewed struggle, recovering the estates of 
which they had been plundered. 

The revenues of Ireland at this time would not pay the 
expense of the government, and the Queen proceeded to debase 
the coin, which increased the evil. 

On the death of Queen Elizabeth, A. D, 1603, 

JAMES THE SIXTH, 

King of Scotland, inherited the throne of England. The right 
of all the British Kings descended either from the Saxons, 
Danes or Normans, and was united in the person of James, so 



82 History of Ireland. 

that no King in Europe had a better claim to royalty than he 
had to the crown of England. The two rival nations, England 
and Scotland, which had been divided for many centuries, 
became united under one King, and from that period the Eng- 
lish monarchs took the title of King of Great Britain and Ire- 
land. James was proclaimed in London on the 14th of March 
with demonstrations of joy. The same ceremony took place 
in Dublin on the 6th of April, by order of Lord Mountjoy, 
Deputy for Ireland. The same loyalty was not found in other 
places in Ireland. Many wished to know the King's disposi- 
tion toward the Catholic religion before they could acknowl- 
edge him foi their sovereign. Captain Morgan was sent to 
Cork to have him proclaimed in that city, and presented his 
orders to Thomas Sarsfield, who was then mayor. That mag- 
istrate said that, according to the charter of the city, time was 
allowed to deliberate on the subject. The example of Cork 
was followed by Waterford, Clonmell, Wexford, Limerick and 
Kilkenny. The Catholics began by driving the Protestants out 
of the Churches which had been stolen from them during Eliz- 
abeth's reign, and by having divine worship performed in them ; 
but Mountjoy, the Deputy, with an army subdued the commo- 
tion and had some of the leaders hanged. The law of the 
strongest prevailed. In the meantime the Deputy, at the head 
of a body of troops, had James proclaimed in the vicinity of 
Cork. 

Kennedy says : "The Irish revered the Milesian blood which 
ran in the veins of James, and looked upon him as a prince 
descended from themselves. They knew likewise that Edward 
Bruce, brother to Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, from whom 
James was descended, had been chosen in the 14th century 
by their ancestors, to be their King. " These things appeared 
to be a good title to the crown of Ireland , at least far better 
than the right he derived from the Kings of England, who were 
never acknowledged by the ancient Irish. The modern Irish, 
or undertakers, looked upon James as rightful heir to the crown 
of England and consequently that of Ireland, in virtue of his 
descent from Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry the Seventh ; 



History of Ireland. 83 

so that the two races in Ireland at this time submitted with one 
accord to the new King. Mountjoy the Deputy was appointed 
at this time Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland; his Deputy was Sir 
Francis Chichester, who was notoriously dishonest. The Irish 
were sanguine that the new King would protect them in their 
religion and liberty. He had written a letter to the Pope, 
assuring his Holiness he would do so, and also embrace the 
Catholic religion as soon as he would be established on the 
throne of England ; however, through the influence of Cecil, 
Secretary of State, who was opposed to Catholicity, James 
never fulfilled these promises. 

Baker says : ' ' From the moment England and Scotland sep- 
arated from the Catholic church, every sect found partisans in 
those countries." There were, however, two principal sects, 
Episcopalians and Presbyterians. The first, or Church of Eng- 
land, was a compound of all the errors in the reign of Elliza- 
beth." 

That Princess took something from every innovator of her day 
to construct the new religion, in which she still allowed the 
authority of bishops and the hierarchy which belonged to the 
Catholic Church to remain. Hence arose the name of Episco- 
palians. The Presbyterians were so called from their having no 
bishops, and being ruled in religious matters by the elders of 
the sect. They were also called Puritans, from the affected purity 
of their manners, and from having, as they say, purified Christi- 
anity from the errors of the ancient church. James was 
brought up, to use an American phrase, on the fence between 
the Episcopalians and Presbyterians, with a strong leaning toward 
Catholicity, in which faith he was baptised, and for which his 
mother suffered a barbarous imprisonment and cruel death by 
order of her cousin. Queen Elizabeth. Baker says, by a species of 
tyranny unheard of, and after an imprisonment of nineteen years, 
Mary Queen of Scots, who possessed in an eminent degree all 
the fine qualities of mind and person, suffered death in a barbar- 
ous and inhuman manner, and even after her death her friends 
were not suffered to take charge of her body. It was reserved, 
sa)s Higgins, for the English nation to give this example of 



84 History of Ireland. 

cruelty. When the unhappy Queen of Scots was first imprisoned 
by EHzabeth, her son who was afterwards James the First, was but 
four years old. Elizabeth with a view perhaps of placing a 
little on the credit side of the long running account between her 
Creator and herself, had James brought up in the Protestant 
religion. He was not once allowed to see his mother during all 
the long years she was in prison ; which was perhaps the great- 
est of all the cruelties inflicted on her by Elizabeth. 

James about this time, A. D. 1604, was disturbed by two 
conspiracies, the object of the first was the total overthrow of the 
government, and the placing of Arabella Stuart, his near rela- 
tive, and, like him, descended from Henry the Seventh, upon 
the throne. The plot being discovered, the Catholics were 
immediately accused of it. If any were concerned they were 
priests, whose only share in it was an accusation (without proof) 
of their having known it through the confessional. There were 
also Episcopalians and Puritans engaged in this conspiracy. In 
general, conspirators are of the same mind, but here we have 
an odd mixture of clergy and laity, Catholics, Protestants, 
Puritans, and nobles of every rank. The world beheld with sur- 
prise men of such opposite interests united in the same cause. 
Many of the conspirators were arrested, and some of them put 
to death ; among the latter were two Catholic priests. The 
second conspiracy, called the 

GUNPOWDER PLOT, 

was more dangerous than the first. The King and Parliament 
were to be blown up at the same time. Higgins says, though 
this plot was projected by the Puritans, whose principles are 
opposed to monarchy, it was a fatal blow to the Catholics of 
England, and suited the views of Cecil the Secretary. Lander- 
son, in his life of King James, says, Cecil was a deadly foe to 
the Catholics. He intended to exterminate them altogether. In 
order to confiscate their estates, and to render them odious 
to the King, he accused them of conspiracy, of which he 
himself was the principal. Osborne in his history of England, 
says, the Catholics denied the charge, as appears from many 



History of Ireland. 85 

tracts written at that time in vindication of their innocence. 
However, the discovery of the plot procured for Cecil the order 
of the garter, and the office of High Treasurer. 

The chief sufferers for the Gunpowder Plot were Catesby, 
Piercy, Thomas, Geant, Rockwood, Digby and Tresham, allmen 
of rank. Garnett also suffered. According to Baker, his crime 
was having concealed his knowledge of the Plot. 

Cecil flushed with his success against the British Catholics, 
and wishing to obtain new favors, turned his thoughts toward 
Ireland, which he designed to involve i'^ some treason. The 
instrument he choose to effect his wicked purpose was Christo- 
pher Lawrence, Baron of Howth, who received instructions to 
invite to a secret conference the leaders of the Catholics, in 
order to entrap them. 

O'Neill, O'Donnell, Develin and other Catholics of distinc- 
tion, appeared at this meeting. Lawrence made them swear 
not to divulge what he would communicate to them for their own 
safety. He then said, that he had information through a chan- 
nel, that the court of England was determined to eradicate the 
Catholic religion out of Ireland, and force them to become Prot- 
estants. He advised them to defend themselves, until assurance 
would be obtained that no change would be attempted. The 
Catholics present struck with alarm, replied that they had every 
trust in the King. Lawrence accused them before the King of 
forming secret designs against his Majesty and the state. 
O'Neill and O'Donnell were summoned before the Council, and 
confronted by Lawrence. They acknowledged they attended a 
meeting to hear what this treacherous man intended to propose. 
As there was but one witness against them, the Council did 
not put them under arrest, but ordered them to appear the next 
day. But knowing that one more witness could be easily hired, 
and that conviction would follow as a matter of course, they 
resolved to quit the country, and leave their estates to the mercy 
of these robbers. 

Taylor says, speaking of why O'Neill did not stand trial : 
" What chance would a fat goose have before a jury of foxes ? " 
Those who have watched these records of guilt and oppression, 



86 History of Ireland. 

the state trials of Ireland, will have little doubt of what the ver- 
dict would have been if he had appeared before the court. The 
charges for hiring witnesses in Ireland has been one of the ordi- 
nary expenses of the government. The name of O'Neill was 
well known on the continent of Europe, and the treatment he 
had received became a reproach against England. James, in 
consequence, pubHshed a proclamation, unfortunately too long 
for insertion, as it is a curiosity in its way, stating in general 
terms the guilt of the fugitives. This document which con- 
tained nothing but vague and general charges, mixed with 
abuse, served only to prove that the King's injustice could 
neither be excused nor defended. 

The lands of Cahir O'Dougherty, another chieftain of the 
north, were added to the forfeitures of O'Neill and O'Donnell, 
who were proclaimed rebels, and not only their individual 
estates but six whole counties in Ulster without investigation 
or trial were forfeited to the crown. These lands were divided 
among several English and Scotch Protestants, who had influence 
at court, or plenty of cash, and it was inserted in the patents 
that no portion of these lands should be sold, transferred, or 
farmed, except to and by Protestants exclusively. Lawrence 
himself who had hitherto affected a tendency in favor of the 
Catholic religion, declared himself a Protestant, and by doing 
so became a partaker of the spoils. 

This wicked scheme is wholly inexcusable. The guilt of 
O'Neill and O'Donnell, though ever so clearly proved, could not 
affect their tenants, who were not even accused of .treason. 

The English law of forfeiture, in itself sufficiently unjust, 
only placed the King in the place of him whose lands were 
forfeited, and left all the relations of the tenantry unaltered. 
Yet all the actual holders of land in these devoted districts were 
dispossessed without even the shadow of a pretence, and this 
abominable wickedness is eulogized by such writers as Froude, 
even to the present day, as the consummation of wisdom, and 
even of justice. The scheme of confiscation devised by James, 
surpassed that of even Elizabeth. The lands were divided into 



History of Ireland. 87 

tracts of from one to many thousand acres, acording to the 
capacity of the undertaker. 

The writer is a descendant in the ninth generation of Ranald 
Oge McAHster.who was born by the river Nith, between Dum- 
freis and Sanquar, in Scotland, and being a favorite at the court 
of James, received a patent for several thousand acres in the 
county of Antrim, between the towns of Carrickfergus and Larne. 
He built his castle on a promontory, named Keene Bawn, in 
English, White Head, A.D. 1613. A number of the McAlister 
clan, of which his father was chief, followed him to Ireland, and 
settled on his lands, and here at the little town of Killroot he 
and his clan built the first Presbyterian Church in Ireland. 

In the month of November, 1641, Monroe who commanded 
the Puritan army in Carrickfergus, marched his troops in the 
night to Island Magee, inhabited by three thousand inoffensive 
and unarmed persons, men, women and children, whose only 
fault was their being Catholics, and drove them at the point of 
the bayonet over a steep rock into the sea, three hundred feet 
below, where they were all either drowned or dashed to pieces 
on the rocks. 

From this time McAlister was a rebel, and with his clan 
joined O'Neill, who pursued Monroe and gave him battle on the 
banks of the river Bann, near Colerain. In this engagement 
Monroe was defeated, and his troops nearly all were drowned 
or shot while attempting to swim the river. Boles, who wrote 
poetry at that time, said : 

''The ScotchmaD, McAlister, marshalled his clan, 
To help Phelim O'Neill drown the Whigs in the Bann." 

McAlister paid dearly for his sympathy with the Irish. The 
Parliament which then ruled in England sent another army to 
the north of Ireland. McAlister was taken prisoner, tried by 
court-martial and beheaded. His head was placed on top of a 
pole on the Castle of Carrickfergus. His tragical fate was in- 
tended as a warning to Presbyterians in all future time not 
to sympathise with Catholics. The reader will please pardon 
this digression. 

King James was as tenacious of the title of head of the church 



88 History of Ireland. 

as any of his predecessors ; to deny it was made a capital crime. 
His tyranny at length drove Cahir O' Dougherty, Chief of Innis- 
howen, to take up arms. He was a young nobleman, aged about 
twenty years, and the most powerful in the north of Ireland, 
after O'Neill, O'Donnell and Maguire had left the country. He 
raised what troops he could and attacked the city of Derry, which 
he took and set the Catholics who were imprisoned there at lib- 
erty. He then marched to Culmor, which was a strong castle 
built on the borders of Lough Foyle, adjoining the sea. This 
he also took and found in it twelve pieces of cannon. He put 
a garrison into it and gave the command to Felim McDevitt, 
after which he ravaged the lands of the English and gained several 
battles and spread terror through the whole province. O'Dough- 
erty kept up the war for some months ; his object was to harass 
the English till the return of O'Neill and O'Donnell. In the 
meantime Winkle, an English field-marshal, appeared with four 
thousand men and laid siege to Culmor. McDevitt seeing the 
place was defenceless set fire to the castle. 

He then sailed with his little garrison on board two transport 
vessels, which he loaded with corn and provisions for the city of 
Derry. He also carried off some of the cannon, and had the 
rest thrown into the sea. Winkle, finding the castle demolished, 
marched against the castle of Beart, with the intention of besieg- 
ing it. Mary Preston, the wife of O'Dougherty, and daughter 
of the Viscount Gormanstown, was in the castle. The com- 
mander, to save the lady the effects of a siege, surrendered the 
castle, on condition of the garrison being spared and suffered to 
retire. But the English, regardless of the treaty, put every soul 
to death, except those who had means to purchase their liberty. 
The wife of O'Dougherty was sent to her brother, who belonged 
to the English faction. This castle served Winkle for a retreat, 
from which he made incursions upon Innishowen, spreading des- 
olation everywhere as he passed. This destruction caused 
O'Dougherty to come to the relief of Innishowen, which was for 
many centuries the home of his ancestors. This nobleman had but 
fifteen hundred men. He fought often against thrice that number 
and behaved valiantly, but his rashness at length cost hirn his life. 



History of Ireland. 89 

His troops seeing their chief fall fled, and some of them sur- 
rendered to the English. Thus ended the war that had caused 
so much alarm to the English. We must in this place introduce 
the history of a young heroine of the house of O'Donnell. 
McGeohagen says, when Roy O'Donnell, Earl of Tryconnell, 
had been obliged to fly from his country in 1605, on account of 
a conspiracy of which he was falsely accused, his wife, the 
countess, was in a state of pregnancy. Wishing to follow her 
husband to where he fled, she strove to leave Ireland secretly, 
but was prevented and sent to England under a strong guard 
where she gave birth to a daughter. 

The King being informed of the circumstance, though he had 
persecuted the Earl of Tryconnell wished to honor the father 
in the person of the child, and took her under his protection 
and had her called Mary Stuart instead of Mary O'Donnell, 
which was her real name. 

The Earl of Tryconnell having died in Rome, his wife ob- 
tained permission to return to Ireland with her daughter. This 
virtuous mother had her child well instructed in the religion of 
her ancestors. Mary was twelve years old when she was invi- 
ted to England by her grandmother, the Countess of Kildare, 
who presented her to the King. This monarch gave her a large 
sum, intended as her marriage portion, and her grandmother, 
who was very rich, made her heiress to her fortune, which, with 
her illustrious birth, caused many nobles in England to seek 
her hand in marriage. A violent persecution was now in prog- 
ress against the Catholics of Ireland. Many were made pris- 
oners and brought to England, to prevent them from joining 
O'Dougherty. Constantine O'Donnell and O'Rorke, relatives 
of Mary Stuart, were of the number. These two noblemen 
escaped from prison, and found means to get over to Flanders. 
Suspicions were afloat that our heroine assisted in effecting the 
escape of her friends. A nobleman of the court informed her 
that the only mode of safety for her, was to marry one of those 
who professed the religion of the state, also to conform to it 
herself, as this alone would satisfy the King. After this she 
was summoned before the King to account for her conduct. 



90 History of Ireland. 

Mary now saw that it was time to provide for her safety. She 
made a confidant of a young lady, in whose fidelity and pru- 
dence she could confide. Her purpose was to go to Flanders 
to seek her brother, the young Earl of Tryconnell, who was at 
the court of Queen Isabella of Spain, by whom an asylum was 
offered to all who were persecuted for their religion. Being 
obliged to change her apparel in order to conceal her sex, Mary 
procured the clothing necessary for herself and the young lady 
who was to accompany her. She took the name of Rodolphus 
Huntly, her companion that of James Hues, and the servant they 
called Richard Stratsi, by which names they were known dur- 
ing the voyage. They set out from London on horseback before 
day, and, after many adventures, sailed from Bristol. After a 
long and dangerous voyage they arrived at Rochelle, and con- 
tinued their journey through Paris to Brussels, at which place 
she met her brother, who presented her to the Queen, who 
received her with all possible marks of distinction. The report 
of this escape was soon spread through Europe ; and Urban 
the Eighth, who was then Pope, addressed her the following 
letter : 

"Urban VIII, to our dear daughter in Christ, Mary Stuart 
O'Donnell, Countess of Tryconnell, greeting, health and bene- 
diction : 

"The sacrilegious mouth must now be silenced, which has 
dared to affirm that the Catholic religion checks the generous 
emotions of the heart. You, our dear daughter, have given to 
the world a proof of the contrary, and have shown what strength 
and courage are imparted by the true faith — how superior to all 
dangers, and to every effort of the wicked one. This heroic 
courage is worthy of the protection of Rome, and the praises 
which fame confers. Your horrors of an alliance with a Prot- 
estant has been nobly displayed, and resembles that terror 
which an apprehension of fire produces. The allurements of a 
court, and menaces of its sovereign, have tended only to excite 
your horror for both. The sea and its horrors have been no 
obstacle to your flight. You have escaped from the persecu- 
tion of the English inquisitors, and, protected by angels, you 



History of Ireland. 91 

have been preserved from accident in your journey, and have 
arrived in a country where religion hath received you into her 
bosom. 

" We therefore implore the Lord who has been your support, 
to reward you as your virtures have merited. Receive our 
most tender benediction, and as you have abandoned both 
relatives and country for the love of Christ, receive our assur- 
ance that you have found a mother that loves you tenderly — you 
yourself know that such is the name and character of the 
Catholic Church ; she will cherish you as her worthy daughter, 
who does honor to the British Isles. 

" Given at St. Peter's, this 13th of February, 1627, the fourth 
year of our pontificate. " 

Taylor says, the government of Ireland, during the re- 
mainder of the disgraceful reign of James, was in every respect 
consonant to the specimen already given. Martial law was 
proclaimed in time of peace ; refractory witnesses were tortured; 
obstinate jurors fined and imprisoned ; the judges of the land 
were cruel, venal and profligate. Peculation pervaded every 
office of the State, the army mouldered away, for the command- 
ers were the lawmakers and voted themselves pay for full 
companies, while the number of soldiers was under one third, 
and such was the extent of the public plunder, that the annual 
expenses of the government exceeded by sixteen thousand 
pounds sterling the annual revenue of the Kingdom. 

James was now, to use an American phrase, financially strap- 
ped. The Puritans had a majority in the House of Commons 
and refused to vote him supplies. Something must be done. 
At this time the different sects were bitter in their denunciations 
of monarchy and of each other. Cecil, the Secretary, sug- 
gested to James that on one point all the sects were agreed, 
and that one point was 

THE BIBLE. 

In it he says they all pretend to believe. The King's Scotch wit 
and avarice readily fell in with the suggestions of Cecil, who was 
to James what Mr. Chase was to President Lincoln. It is clear 



92 " History of Ireland. 

that Lincoln's government could not have held out without the 
greenbacks, and it is equally clear that James' crown would have 
been pulled down in three months without the Bible. Cecil 
had the government printing offices run day and night printing 
Bibles, and had them distributed without price. These Bibles were 
published without note or comment, so that all the sects could 
interpret them to suit their views, however wild. In the pre- 
face to this Bible, James is represented as a model christian, 
and a man sent of God, though it is well known to the reader 
of history that he was the very reverse of what he is there 
represented to be. After Cecil had distributed many thousands 
of his Bibles, James dissolved the Parliament and ordered a 
general election, and the returns showed a large majority for 
the King and the Bible. By this master-stroke of policy, 
James was enabled to die a King. His son, as we shall see, did 
not fare quite so well. 

The Catholics, especially in Ireland, would not read what they 
called ' ' Scotch Jammie's Bible. ' ' This gave rise to a charge that 
is ^believed by many well-meaning persons even to this day, 
that Catholics do not believe in the Bible. 

The landed proprietors in Connaught having surrendered their 
patents to James, and paid him a sum of three thousand pounds 
to have them enrolled, the recorder, from negligence or a 
worse motive, omitted the form, and the King proceeded to take 
advantage of this error, and seized on Connaught as he had on 
Ulster. The proprietors were filled with alarm, and immediately 
prepared to avert the blow. They knew that it would be use- 
less to appeal to the King's justice, his honor, or his humanity, 
but they were aware that he was greedy and needy, and offered 
him a bribe of ten thousand pounds. While James hesitated 
between the temptation of this sum in hand and larger in pros- 
pect, he was seized with mortal illness and died, bequeathing to 
his son his kingdom filled with internal discord and involved in 
wars, from which neither honor nor profit could be derived. 

Opinions vary as to James' character. Some load him with 
praise, and others with abuse. According to some, he was 
accomplished, wise and just, the friend of the people, and com- 



History of Ireland. 93 

parable only to Solomon ; while others maintain that he was a 
monster of impiety and tyranny. His ideas of religion and 
government were extraordinary. He thought his own power 
should be without limit. He was neither a good Catholic nor 
a good Protestant, but looked upon any religion to be good 
which inculcated obedience to the King. 

Strype, an English historian, said James was the wisest fool 
in Europe, though he was weak in suffering the Puritans to grow 
under him, knowing they were opposed to monarchy, and this 
"indolence proved fatal to his family. 

Baker, another English historian who wrote in 1637, says Puri- 
tanism, which was a reformation of the Church of England, and 
• which produced the melancholy fate of Mary Stuart, made rapid 
strides in Scotland during the minority of her son, who when 
he became King of England endeavored to check the increase of 
these fanatics, and unite his English and Scotch subjects in one 
religion. For this purpose he composed a liturgy, or form of 
common prayer, with the consent of the general assembly of 
Aberdeen, which he sent to Scotland to be used in the churches 
there, but his death, which took place in the interval, prevented 
the execution of his design. 

CHARLES THE FIRST, 

only son of James the First, succeeded him upon the throne of 
England, A. D. 1625. In the May following, he married Henri- 
etta, daughter of the King of France. The high endowments 
of Charles portended a happier reign than that in which it ended. 
But all his misfortunes arose from the fanaticism of his Puritan 
subjects. There were those who thought visiting the iniqui- 
ties of the father on the son had something to do with his mis- 
fortunes, though the Puritans were the instruments used. 

In England and Scotland at this time the Episcopalians and 
Puritans were violently opposed. In Ireland the Catholics and 
Protestants were guided by the fiercest animosity. The Catho- 
lics received with reverence, says Taylor, a bull from the Pope, 
in which he asserted that the oath of supremacy " wrested the 
scepter of the Catholic church from the hand of the Almighty." 



94 History of Ireland. 

The Protestant prelates, headed by Archbishop Usher, pub- 
Hshed a declaration/stating that those who tolerated popery were 
"guilty of a grievous sin, and rendered accessory to idolatry, 
abomination and the perdition of souls, which perished through 
popish apostacy. " 

The political condition of Ireland was still more perplexing. 
The faction who had hitherto ruled the country had squandered 
the revenue, neglected the defences, and exhausted the resources 
of the nation. In Ulster, the original inhabitants, robbed of 
their lands, supported a miserable existence in mountains and 
remote districts, waiting patiently for a favorable time when their 
former possessions might be recovered. 

The unprincipled attempt of the late King to seize on the lands 
in Connaught, spread alarm among the proprietors of Irish estates. 
No tenure was secure, as the discoverers and judges of the courts 
were in alliance, and divided the spoils. Much, however, was 
hoped from the new King, and the Catholics still forming a large 
majority of the Irish land owners, joined by several Protestants 
of rank, held a meeting in Dublin to propose measures to tran- 
quilize the country. The proceedings of this assembly were 
marked by wisdom and moderation. They drew up a number 
of articles called a bill of rights, to which they asked the King's 
assent, promising to raise one hundred thousand pounds for the 
use of the crown. The principal of these articles were provis- 
ions for the security of property, equal justice to all creeds, and 
the freedom of trade. 

These articles were well calculated to tranquilize the country. 
And it is but just to add that Charles seemed to think them 
reasonable. His heart was not naturally bad, but he was weak 
and wavering. A clamor was raised by the faction who ruled 
in Ireland, and by the Puritans, that these articles were designed 
for the benefit of Catholics. Charles became alarmed, and, in 
an evil hour, listened to the advice of his Secretary, Strafford, 
which advice was to accept the money and refuse to ratify the 

articles. 

The administration of Strafford was an important era in the 
history of Ireland. Through ignorance rather than design he 



History of Ireland. 95 

adopted a system which led to the ruin of the country, and 
involved himself and his master in the general ruin. Taylor 
says, Strafford was great in his qualities of both good and evil. 
While in England some are found to defend him, his name is 
to this hour detested in Ireland. There is not a peasant who 
passes the ruins of his castle near Nass, that does not vent an 
execration against 

" BLACK TOM," 

the tyrant and persecutor. The traditions of his oppressions 
contain little but tales of bloodshed and robbery, more like the 
leader of banditti than a civil governor. The Catholics, whom 
he certainly outraged by persuading the King to break his 
promise to them, and the Puritans, whose party he detested, 
have both combined to blacken his memory ; but the Puritans 
alone are guilty of his death. Strafford now prepared to exe- 
cute the project of confiscation in Connaught which James had 
planned. His proceedings were open violations of justice. He 
took with him to each town where court was held, five hundred 
horse soldiers, which, he said, were " good lookers on. " He 
• selected jurors who he knew would find for the King, and 
obtained a grant of one-fifth of all confiscated land for the judges 
who tried the cases. 

In Leitrim, Rosscommon, Mayo and Sligo, the juries in every 
case found for the crown. In Galway, however, they ventured 
to give a contrary verdict. Strafford immediately fined the sheriff 
one thousand pounds for returning an improper jury, and bound 
over the jurors to stand trial before the Star Chamber. The fines 
exacted by Strafford were exorbitant in the extreme. He com- 
pelled the O' Byrnes to pay seventeen thousand pounds to remedy 
a pretended defect of title, and extorted seventy thousand from 
London companies that had obtained estates in Ulster stolen by 
Elizabeth. This last circumstance was one of the principal 
causes of his ruin, for thenceforward the English became his 
deadly enemies, though they had no protest against his robbing 
the Irish. Sir Francis Annsley was one of the few adventurers 
in the reigns of PLlizabeth and James that made a fortune by 



96 History of Ireland. 

honorable means. He was remarkable for the virtue, so rare 
in those days, of doing justice to the native Irish. For this he' 
was envied by Strafford, who had him accused of a fictitious 
crime, and tried by court-martial, over which he presided in per- 
son, found guilty and sentenced to military execution. 

In enforcing the penal laws, Taylor says Strafford was accused 
by the Puritans of encouraging popery. Just think of it, kind 
reader. 

In imitation of his father, Charles ordered the liturgy of the 
Church of England to be used throughout Scotland. The dean 
of Edinburgh on reading it was interrupted by the hisses of the 
congregation. An old woman, named 

JANE GADDIS, 

got up in the church, and threw a stool on which she had been 
sitting at the preacher, saying: ''Begone, perfidious thief! 
Are you going to say mass for us ?" The Bishop of Edinburgh 
then mounted the pulpit, and reminded them of the sanctity of 
the place, but he too met with similar insults. 

The remonstrances of the bishop were in vain, the people be- 
came more outrageous, and threw everything they could find 
at him, so that his life was in danger but for the provost and 
city officers, who succeeded in driving the mob away after every 
window in the church had been broken. The Scotch, after this, 
openly resisted the King's mandates, and held meetings, in 
which, under the mask of religion, they prepared for war. They 
applied to the neighboring states for assistance, and sent to 
Holland and Sweden for generals to command their armies. 
They made themselves masters of the castles of Edinburgh and 
Dumbartin. Arms and ammunition were taken from the King's 
arsenal at Dalkeith, and the command of their army given to 
Alexander Leslie, a man of some experience in war. Charles 
having collected a considerable army, marched toward Berwick 
to punish the insolence of his Scotch subjects, and encamped 
two miles from that town. Leslie and his forces were at a short 
distance, but being badly prepared for battle they sent propo- 
sals to the King, which he had the weakness to accept of on 



History of Ireland. 97 

condition of laying down their arms. This pretended peace did 
not end the rebelhon ; it was renewed again with increased vio- 
lence in 1640. 

The Scotch entered England, defeated the King's troops at 
Newburn, and seized on Newcastle. Castlehaven says, the 
King, alarmed by this success of the rebels, repaired to York, 
where he held a council composed of all the lords of the king- 
dom. They agreed to treat for a suspension of hostilities, which 
was concluded, to the disgrace of the English nation, on condi- 
tion of paying to the Scotch twenty-five thousand pounds. 

Baker says the Scotch had friends in England, even among 
the lords of the council, who turned everything to their advan- 
tage. They carried their insolence so far as to publish an edict 
at the head of the army, expressive of their determination not to 
lay down their arms till the reformed religion (Puritanism) should 
be established in both England and Scotland, and the bishops 
punished according to law, particularly the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury and the Earl of Strafford. This declaration was pub- 
lished in London, and in all the principal towns in the kingdom. 
The King now gave orders for the assembling of the Bloody Par- 
liament, as Baker terms it, which met on the third of November, 
A. D. 1640. They condemned the King to death, and by revo- 
lution overthrew the monarchy and the monarch. Charles, in 
his speech from the throne, called upon the Parliament to put 
down the rebellion and protect his faithful subjects. The pro- 
posal was badly received ; instead of treating them as rebels, 
who were armed against the government, they were treated as 
brethren, and three hundred thousand pounds paid them for 
their services. Holies, a member of Parliament, said, the better 
way of paying the rebels was to drive them out of the country 
with arms; he was silenced by the Speaker as out of order. The 
Protestant bishops were sent prisoners to the Tower, which at 
once lost the King twenty-six votes in Parliament, and left the 
intentions of that body concerning the King no longer doubt- 
ful. Charles was betrayed on all sides ; everything portended 
his misfortune. The Scotch Presbyterians in the north of 



98 History of Ireland. 

Ireland, on whom his father bestowed the lands he had stolen 
from the Catholics, as has been already observed, conspired with 
their English and Scotch brethren to destroy him. 

A petition, signed by many thousands of the Presbyterians of 
the north of Ireland, was presented to Parliament, its prayer being 
that the Irish Papists should be obliged either to turn Protest- 
ants or quit the country, and that those who would not submit 
to the law should be hanged at their doors. So certain were 
these fanatics of carrying their designs that they boasted in pub- 
lic that at the end of the year 164 1 there would not be a living 
Papist in Ireland. A minister, named Primrose, struck with 
horror at the design of his brethren, notified the Catholics of 
their danger, but the assurance of protection was of no avail. 
Sir William Parsons and John Borlace governed the country 
in the absence of the Viceroy. These were both rigid Presbyte- 
rians ; they had both declared themselves adverse to listening to 
any complaints from Catholics. The King's affairs in England 
were so embarrassed that he could offer them no relief; they 
saw themselves abandoned to the fury of their enemies, and no 
remedy to be expected. 

To avoid a confused recital of facts we must follow the order 
of events and the motives which produced them. The rising of 
the Irish against the Puritans, the attempt to seize the Castle of 
Dublin, the hostilities in Ulster by the forces of Phelim O'Neill 
and the horrible massacre that ensued will be given in course. 
O'Neill and his Catholic allies determined to gain by the force 
of arms, not only the free exercise of their religion, but also the 
recovery of their property which had been unjustly taken from 
them thirty years ago. The 23d of October, 1 641, was the day 
appointed for seizing on the Castle of Dublin and the lords jus- 
tices at the same time, together with some forts in the north. 
Lord Maguire was appointed to head the attack on Dublin. The 
plot, however, was betrayed by Connoly, his servant, who was 
a traitor and an apostate, having become a Protestant, for which 
he received as a bribe large possessions in Ireland. Maguire 
and McMahon were taken prisoners, sent to p:ngland and hanged 
at Tyburn. 



History of Ireland. 99 

Phelim O'Neill was more fortunate in Ulster, where he took 
Charlemont and other forts from the Puritans. Though opposed 
in everything else, Charles and the Puritans showed wondrous 
unanimity in devising plans for fresh confiscation. The declara- 
tions of the Parliament against popery were justly alarming to 
the Catholics ; and the shameful execution, or rather murder, 
of several priests in London for the offence of saying mass, 
showed that the Puritans were about to add to murder theft. 
The sin of tolerating popery was a common theme in their 
churches. In fact, both Royalists and Puritans avowed their de- 
termination to rob and drive the Papists out of Ireland. Par- 
sons looked forward to a rebellion as his harvest. He had 
already gained largely by confiscation, and he trusted that a new 
insurrection would place at his disposal more estates. 

Sir William Petty says there was now a great game to be 
played for the estates of the Catholic proprietors, but though 
the odds were against them the Puritans won, and have a gam- 
bler's right, at least, to their ill-gotten store ; but for the blood 
shed in the contest they alone are responsible. The war com- 
menced in the north. Taylor says the peasantry that had been 
so cruelly driven from their homes, rushed down from their 
mountains and drove off those Puritan robbers. There was lit- 
tle or no resistance made. The astonished settlers fled every- 
where before the original proprietors, and the roads to Dublin 
were filled with miserable crowds driven from the lands held on 
the principle that might makes right. At first the Irish were 
content with driving off the intruders, but a mob soon adds 
cruelty to violence, and in some instances the Puritans were in- 
jured, and even murdered, as Phelim O'Neill could not re- 
strain the excesses of his followers. 

Taylor further says, ' ' the English and Scotch settlers retorted, 
and whenever they had an opportunity massacred the Irish 
without mercy, or distinction of sex or age. The Irish com- 
manders made every exertion to restrain the ferocity of their 
followers, but the officers of the government, both by precept 
and example, recommended cruelty and extermination." Par- 
sons in the meantime took precaution to secure his own safety, 



100 History of Ireland. 

and then directed his attention, not to the suppression of the re- 
bellion, but to discovering means by which he could prolong the 
struggle and gain by its continuance. His great object was to 
by some means bring in the Catholic lords of the Pale as partici- 
pators, for their great estates had escaped in former times, and 
were, from their vicinity to Dublin, particularly desirable to the 
creatures of the government. He therefore issued a proclama- 
tion declaring that the Irish Papists had formed a dangerous 
conspiracy against the state. The lords of the Pale were justly 
alarmed at the sweeping generality of the phrase, "Irish Pap- 
ists;" they remonstrated, and Parsons was obliged to publish a 
second proclamation exonerating the Catholic lords of English 
descent. At the same time he transmitted to the King, who 
was then in Scotland, and to the , Parliament an account of the 
dangerous insurrection which had taken place. But neither in 
this proclamation, nor in his dispatches to the Parliament, does 
he say one word about the horrible massacres which Puritan 
authors have detailed, a clear proof that nothing of the kind 
took place, although Leicester, in the Puritan Parliament, as- 
serted that the object of the Irish was a gene/al massacre of the 
Protestants. 

Warner says, this assertion of Leicester was intended to in- 
crease the hatred of popery, which the Parliament had found to 
be a formidable instrument for extending their influence, and 
diminishing that of the King. 

Charles at once saw the dangers to which he was exposed by 
the Irish insurrection, in causing which his own perfidious con- 
duct had so large a share. He knew the Irish had been more 
"sinned against than sinning." But the time when he could 
have done justice was passed; avarice and prejudice both stimu- 
lated the Parliament to seize on Irish property and destroy Irish 
popery. Charles was forced to go with the current, and to issue 
a proclamation denouncing the Irish as rebels. 

The men of property in Ulster were anxious to avoid war. and 
were shocked at the cruelties which began to be committed on 
both sides. They made offers of peace on terms remarkable for 
their moderation and equity, The O'Farrells of Longford, 



History of Ireland. 101 

who had suffered severely under James, after having without 
violence seized the forts and castles of which they had been 
robbed by James, sent a remonstrance to the King. They com- 
plained of the persecution of their religion, the insecurity of their 
property, and their being treated as aliens in their native land. 
They asked for a general amnesty for offences, except murder 
for a repeal of the penal laws, and for a general charter of free- 
dom to all Irish subjects. 

There were many, both in England and Ireland, anxious to re- 
store peace on these conditions, and the King's friends especially, 
foreseeing the struggle impending between him and his Parlia- 
ment, were eager to avoid what they knew threatened his ruin. 
The Puritans, who now run the English Parliament, had under- 
taken the management of the Irish war, and with a complete 
disregard of the King's authority had begun to raise an army 
and provide munitions of war. While they sent the Irish Prot- 
estants the promise of assistance they kept the army to overawe 
the King in England. It was then, and long after, the fashion 
to look upon the Irish with contempt. The Puritans were de- 
termined to secure England first and leave Ireland to a more 
convenient time. 

The Puritans in Ireland sent out Sir Charles Coote, a monster 
of cruelty, to lay waste the country, and he, with little scruple, 
massacred indiscriminately the loyal and disaffected, and this ren- 
dered the spirit of revolt more general. 

The designs of Parsons were shown in another instance. Both 
the King and Parliament had directed him to issue a proclama- 
tion offering pardon to all who would lay down their arms. Af- 
ter a long time he did indeed issue such a proclamation, but 
clogged it with so many exceptions that it was wholly nugatory. 
It was limited to four counties, in two of which there had not 
been any revolt, and in the others all were exempt who held 
freehold property. Finally, the time for receiving submission 
was limited to ten days, and no pardon unless all restitution of 
property was effected within that time, a condition that he knew 
could not be fulfilled. Parliament was to meet in Ireland in No- 
vember, but Parsons fearing they would make peace adjourned 



102 History of Ireland. 

the meeting to the 24th of February, The lawyers objected to 
this, and Parsons, by their advice, allowed Parliament to meet 
for one day. The session lasted two days, during which a pro- 
test against those who had taken up arms was passed, but not 
without opposition. A large minority refused to name the Irish 
in arms rebels, preferring the milder phrase discontented per- 
sons, but the influence of the government secured the insertion 
of the word rebel. Parsons, however, was unable to prevent 
the appointment of a committee to confer with the leaders of the 
insurgents. Alarmed at this appearance of concession he, in 
spite of every remonstrance, prorugued the Parliament, saying 
the more rebels the more confiscation. 

Parsons having received re-enforcements from England was 
now encouraged to pursue openly the scheme of confiscation he 
had so long meditated. Finding the prisoners brought in by 
his marauding parties increasing, he issued a commission for 
trying them by martial law, under the pretence that they could 
not find freeholders to form juries. Men possessing estates 
were kept for a more regular trial, in order to confiscate their 
lands, and so diligent were the retainers of the government in 
hunting up forfeitures that in two days bills of indictment for 
high treason were found against all the Catholic nobility and 
gentry of the counties of Meath, Wicklow, and Dublin, and 
three hundred landed gentlemen in County Kildare. To impli- 
cate the King in the guilt of the Irish revolt was the object of 
the Puritan Parliament, and their creature. Parsons, diligently 
exerted himself to discover some pretence for the imputation. 
Hugh McMahon and John Reid, also Patrick Barnwall, were 
subjected to the tortures of the rack, but nothing important was 
elicited. Of this cruelty Parsons and St. Leger seem to have 
been ashamed, as they allowed Barnwall afterwards to reside 
peaceably in Dublin, and protected his estate from the general 
havoc of the soldiers. 

The mode in which Parsons and St. Leger chose to conduct 
the war may be learned from their instructions to the command- 
ers of the Puritan army. They were directed not only to kill 
and destroy rebels and their adherents and relievers, but also to 



History of Ireland. 103 

burn, waste and consume, and demolish all the places, towns and 
houses where they had been harbored, with all the corn and hay 
there, and also to kill and destroy all the Papists capable of bear- 
ing arms. Nor were these cruel edicts disregarded. Dr. Borlace, 
who wrote a history of these transactions to vindicate the charac- 
ter of his brother, the Lord Justice, boasts that Sir William Cole's 
regiment killed two thousand five hundred rebels in several en- 
gagements, and adds, with horrid complacency, "there were 
starved and famished by this regiment, of the vulgar sort seven 
thousand, whose goods were seized upon and their houses de- 
stroyed." 

The massacres in Ulster, ^we have shown by the report of the 
Commissioners to have been grossly exaggerated, but at all 
events they were the acts of a mob, and were not only discour- 
aged but punished by the Irish leaders. But what are we to 
say of this mandate, deliberately issued by the governors of a 
country, and obeyed by those who bore the name of British 
officers. 

The Confederates, or English Catholics, became alarmed at 
their success. They were afraid of their allies, the old Irish, 
and feared their influence would be the preponderance of that of 
their allies. Ormond availed himself of this indecision and 
gained many advantages, and the war would have been speedily 
ended had Parsons so desired, but his object was confiscation, 
not peace. The unfortunate Charles was fully aware of the in- 
jury he sustained from the report of his partiality to the Catho- 
lics. He issued a proclamation denouncing them as rebels and 
traitors, and to prove his sincerity offered to lead an army 
against them himself, but the King's falsehoods were too nu- 
merous for either parties to believe his professions. The lords 
of the Pale knew he was secretly attached to their cause. The 
Puritan House of Commons suspected that the expedition which 
the King offered to lead to Ireland was a pretext for removing 
to a place where he would be beyond their reach, and refused 
their consent in no very respectful terms. 

Gormanstown, the leader of the Catholics in Leinster, seeing 
the last hope of the peace of his country thus destroyed, and the 



104 History of Ireland. 

people at the mercy of fanatics and robbers, died of a broken 
heart. His followers united with Mountgarrett's forces, who led 
his army into the County Kildare, where Ormond was encamped. 
A battle was fought at Kilrush, in which the Confederates were 
defeated, but Ormond, for want of ammunition, could not follow 
up his success. 

For some months the war lingered on both sides. The Confed- 
erates were unprepared for war, and they had no leaders of mili- 
tary talent. The Royalists, on the other hand, were in a wretched 
condition, their soldiers were without pay, their provisions 
were scanty in the extreme, and the English Parliament made 
no exertions adequate to the crisis. But in other respects their 
attention to Irish affairs was not very creditable to their charac- 
ter. They passed a law for the sale of two and a half millions 
of acres belonging to those they were pleased to name rebels, 
and also passed another law to prevent the King from making 
any treaty with the Irish. In this detestable law Parsons eagerly 
concurred. The Puritans also strictly commanded all their offi- 
cers to grant no protection, or hold no correspondence with 
Irish or Papists. All these things were sanctioned by the Irish 
Parliament, which sat three days in Dublin. By expelling all 
who had joined the Confederates, and excluding all who would 
not swear the King was head of the church, the number of 
members was so reduced that the Puritans had a majority. 
The only business done in this brief session was the passage of 
new penal laws, the denouncing of popery, and asking the Eng- 
lish Parliament for more severe laws against Papists. Having 
performed their part in rendering peace hopeless, this Parliament 
was prorogued by Parsons, who, like his masters in England, 
totally neglected the war. 

St. Leger, in Munster, was so mortified by want of aid that 
he died of grief The Confederates were so dispirited by re- 
peated reverses that many resolved to give up the contest and 
become voluntary exiles. The arrival of Owen O'Neill revived 
the hopes of the Irish. He was a leader whose noble qualities 
would have done honor to any cause ; a skillful soldier and a 
prudent tatesman. Cool, cautious and calculating, mild, gen - 



History of Ireland. 105 

erous and humane, he was respected by his enemies and beloved 
by those whom he protected. On taking the command he de- 
nounced in the strongest terms all excesses, and declared that 
if any cruelties were committed he would quit the country. The 
Earl of Levin arrived with re-enforcements to the Scotch in Ulster, 
but though his army was sufficient to crush the raw levies of 
O'Neill he made no effort. Levin addressed a letter to O'Neill 
expressing surprise that a man of his abilities and reputation 
would attempt to maintain a falling cause like that of the Irish. 
O'Neill replied that he could assign much better reasons for 
coming to the relief of his country than his lordship could for 
marching into England against his King. Levin retired, after 
having received this reply, and returned home to Scotland, as- 
suring Monroe, to whom he resigned his command, that when 
O'Neill had collected his forces he would give him a very sound 
drubbing. 

The Irish hastened to range themselves under the banner of 
O'Neill, while Monroe, remembering Levin's prophecy, con- 
fined himself to his quarters, and his army, neglected by the 
Parliament, had to struggle against the miseries of nakedness 
and famine. The Catholics now determined to organize a civil 
government, and in this work the clergy took the lead. A pro- 
visional synod was held at Armagh, and soon after a general as- 
sembly from all the provinces at Kilkenny. Taylor, in speaking 
of this, says: "Their acts were numerous and solemn, and 
breathe a spirit of charity and moderation, powerfully contrasted 
with the intolerant declarations issued by the Puritan fanatics 
in Dublin. They began by stating that the war had been un- 
dertaken against Sectaries and Puritans in defence of their reli- 
gion, and the'preservation of the rights and liberties of Irishmen 
of every creed. They directed that an oath of association 
should be taken by all the members of the Confederacy, and 
that no distinction should be made between the old and new 
Irish. They denounce those who remain neutral in the contest, 
and prohibit, under pain of excommunication, any injury to a 
Protestant who was not in arms against their cause. They direct 
that exact registers should be kept of all murders and cruelties 



106 History of Ireland, 

committed by the Puritans in the several provinces, but prohibit 
retaliation under the severest penalties." There were other 
regulations of minor importance, but the above articles contain 
the substance of the ordinances published by the Catholic clergy, 
and we can discover in them no trace of the bigotry and perse- 
cuting spirit vulgarly attributed to that much calumniated 
body. 

The National Assembly was soon after convened at Kilkenny ; 
it consisted principally of the Anglo-Irish nobility, and was 
conducted with all the form and order of a regular Parliament. 
The proceedings of this noble, but unfortunate body, will not 
suffer by comparison with those of any other convention that 
has ever assembled. Having first professed their allegiance to 
the King, they renounce the authority of the Puritan government 
held in Dublin in compliance with the malignant party in Eng- 
land. They declared they would maintain the rights of the 
Catholic Church, as established by the great charter. They 
profess to accept the common law of England and the statutes 
of Ireland, so far as they were not contrary to religion or lib- 
erty. They erected provincial councils, but allowed an appeal 
from their decisions to the Supreme Council of the Confederate 
. Catholics of Ireland. This body was to consist of twenty-four 
persons chosen by the General Assembly. Nine members 
should be present to transact any business, and a majority of 
two-thirds was required to give validity to any act. For the 
honor and security of this body a guard of five hundred foot and 
two hundred horse was assigned. The Generals were Owen 
O'Neill, in Ulster ; Preston, for Leinster ; Garret Barry, for 
Munster, and John Burke, for Connaught. The latter bore only 
the title of Lieutenant-General, for the Confederates designed 
the chief command for the Earl of Clanrickard, but that noble- 
man refused to join the alliance. 

Though disappointed in Clanrickard, the Confederates ob- 
tained a valuable assistant in Lord Castlehaven, whom Parsons 
had forced into their ranks. This nobleman was a Peer of Eng- 
land as well as Ireland. On the breaking out of the. war he 
hastened to offer his services to the government, but was morti- 



History of Ireland. 107 

fied by a refusal. He then asked for a passport to return to 
England, which was also denied ; and he was then prohibited 
from residing in Dublin. Castlehaven retired to his estates in 
Kilkenny, determined to meddle no more in politics, and afford- 
ing a refuge to English who were driven from the settlements 
by the insurgents. He was employed by lords of the Pale as a 
mediator to transmit their remonstrance to the castle, and received 
in reply a reprimand for daring to correspond with rebels. He 
again sought permission to return to his English estates, and 
again met a peremptory refusal. On a report that one of his ser- 
vants had stolen a horse he was indicted for high treason. Cas- 
tlehaven, with the boldness of conscious innocence, hastened to 
Dublin and presented himself at the Council Board. Parsons 
refused him a hearing and committed him to prison. His 
brother, Colonel Mervin, applied to the King, who was then at 
York, that the Earl should be tried by his peers. Charles re- 
ferred the matter to Parliament, but the Puritans refused to in- 
terfere. After having been a prisoner for twenty weeks, Cas- 
tlehaven, dreading the treachery of Parsons, contrived to make 
his escape. He fled to Kilkenny and was received with open 
arms by the Confederates, who, delighted by the accession of 
an English peer, appointed him to the command of the Leinster 
cavalry under Preston. 

Castlehaven has forded the Shannon with the soldiers of brave Owen Roe, 
And furiously marching to meet him press forward the troops of Monroe ; 
With Scots from the Clyde and Loch Lomond, and Puritan spears from the 

Tweed, 
O'er the hills of Stradone and Benvara, and the meadows of Arva they speed. 

Fierce raiders and robbers, full many, are ranged 'neath the flag of the Scot, 
And their pathway is marked by the burning of roofs of both castle and cot ; 
They reined not their steeds till before them fair Granard loomed up in their 

way, 
Then, with bright shining bayonets and banners,they halt at the bridge of Finea. 

'Twas a fair sight to see them all marching ; yes, a sight very fair to behold, 
Their spears in the bright sunlight shining, and the red flag of Britain unrolled. 
And fiercer ne'er hainessed for battle, nor mustered for foray or fray, 
Than the clans that the Scottish chief rallied that day by the bridge of Finea. 



108 History of Ireland. 

But there on the bridge stood O'Reilly, the hero from Cavan's green side, 
Ai-ound him shone many a sabre, and above him his banner spread wide ; 
Scant greeting had he for a Scotchman, who came in the garb of a foe, 
And bold was the foeman who'd brave him, they knew well the weight of his 
blow, 

Benburb heard the cry of his troopers, and the Blackwater rang to his shout, 
When the arms of Red Owen, in vengeance, put the Scot and the Saxon to 

rout. 
He scattered their legions at Limerick, and stood in the breach at Clonmel, 
'Till hundreds of iron-clad troopers and Psalm-singing Puritans fell. 

And now ever foremost in battle, he braves the fierce host of Monroe, 
And stands in the vanguard of danger, with his troopers all ranged in a row. 
Out rode from the ranks of the foeman a chief from a far Scottish glen, 
And haughtily ordered O'Reilly to surrender the bridge and his men. 

But out leaped the sword of O'Reilly, and thus to the foe did he say, 

" You must trample the hearts of my soldiers ere you cross o'er the bridge of 

Finea. 
There are weapons and men to defend it, and tell your fierce leader, Monroe, 
That we'll hold it against him and his robbers while a hand's left to give him a 

blow. 

" Come on with your [kilts and your claymores, our sabres have met you be- 
fore, 
And trampled in blood and dishonor your flag by the Blackwater shore. 
We fear not the forest of bayonets that gleam round the flag of Monroe, 
The freeman bends not to a tyrant, and the eagle stoops not to the crow." 

The Scotch they press forward in anger, they rush to the bridge with a yell. 

And down on its gallant defenders in fury and vengeance they fell. 

But fierce are the troopers of Cavan, when for freedom and fatherland led, 

And they fight till in furrows before them lay a breastwork of foreigners dead. 

But weakened and scant are their numbers, their leaders are fighting on foot ; 
Still 'gainst Puritans, Scotchmen and Saxon, every inch of the bridge they dis- 
pute. 
'Tis blocked with the dead and the dying, and clansmen and foemen lie low, 
'Till scarce half a score of the Irish are left by the swords of Monroe. 



History of Ireland. 109 

A shout from the Scots of Loch I ,omond, and again to the bridge they have 
flown, 

But forward dashed noble O'Reilly, and stood on the eenter alone. 

"Come on, you fierce hell hounds of Cromwell, we'll meet your false clan undis- 
mayed, 

We promised you graves, and you'll get them, while O'Reilly can handle the 
blade." 

He fought 'till the Saxons before him, heaped high as a battlement lay ; 
He fell, but the foot of a foeman pressed not on the bridge of Finea, 
For the flag of the brave Castlehaven, pressing on to the combat is seen 
And ten thousand bright l^ayonets are flashing round his standard of emerald 
green. 

They rush to the bridge, where O'Reilly so bravely his banner enrolled 
But alas I for the cause of green Erin, the heart of the hero is cold. 
He died as a freeman should ever, with his flag floating free in the blast 
With his hand on the hilt of his sabre, defiant and true to the last. 

And would to kind heaven that old Ireland had ten thousand warriors to-day, 
As true and as bold as O'Reilly, who fell at the bridge of Finea. 

The King's friends and the moderate party did not yet despair; 
they made another elTort to avert the horrors of a general war, 
but were unfortunately unsuccessful. The deputation sent to 
the leaders of the Irish was received respectfully ; but when 
the order of the Parliament, in which these gentlemen were 
stigmatized as traitors was presented, Roger O'Moore seized 
the document, and tearing it in pieces declined any further con- 
ference. 

The Irish now sent Lords Dillon and Taffe to England to lay 
before the King the condition of the country, and the conduct 
of Parsons. They were delayed by a storm which drove them 
to the coast of Scotland; they finally arrived in London, where 
they were arrested by order of the Parliament. 

Sir John Read, who promised the Catholics to lay their 
grievances before the King, was taken prisoner and sent to Dub- 
lin. On being questioned by Parsons he avowed everything, 
and was sent to prison, where he was put to the rack by order 



110 History of Ireland. 

of that tyrant, who hoped by torture to force him to accuse the 
King and Queen of having encouraged the Irish to rebel. 

Patrick Barnwall, aged 66 years, experienced similar treat- 
ment ; he appeared on the faith of the amnesty within ten days 
after the proclamation, not knowing he would be looked upon 
as a criminal on account of his estate. From October to the 
middle of December the insurrection had been confined to Uls- 
ter, part of Leinster, and one county in Connaught. The Catho- 
lic lords of the Pale, still jealous of the native Irish, offered their 
assistance to the government. Sir Robert Talbot had taken the 
field against the northern Catholics, for which they in revenge 
destroyed his castle. 

Parsons deeming the aid of these Catholic lords necessary to 
his security had, in the first instance, supplied them with arms 
to defend him against the Irish. But being promised assist- 
ance from England he recalled the arms and ordered those who 
had sought protection in Dublin to quit the city immediately. 

On the 8th of December, 1641, it was resolved in the Par- 
liament in England that they would no longer tolerate popery in 
Ireland, a resolution which was virtually a declaration of a war of 
extermination against seven-eighths of the landed proprietors in 
Ireland, and almost the whole of the other classes. The Catho- 
lic lords of English descent now joined O' Moore and O'Neill, 
and the war became general throughout the entire country. 
Puritan historians have foully misrepresented the conduct of the 
Irish in this war. Taylor says the massacre of Protestants by 
the Irish in 1641 has been so often repeated, even in school- 
books, that one can scarcely conceal his surprise when he learns 
that the tale is as apocryphal as the wildest fiction of romance. 
No mention is made of these murders in any of the proclama- 
tions issued by Parsons, even so late as December, and truly 
his character does not induce us to believe that he would hold 
back anything likely to make the Papists odious. The reports of 
the Irish Parliament on record in Dublin Castle are equally silent 
on the subject, nor does any state paper afford even the slightest 
ground for the charge. 



History of Ireland. Ill 

Stories of horrid cruelties in Ireland were indeed studiously 
circulated in England, because it was the interest of the Puritans 
in Parliament to propagate such delusions. They increased the 
popular hatred of popery, and rendered the King's suspected at- 
tachment to that religion more generally odious, and they af- 
forded a pretence for raising an army on whose officers and 
soldiers the Puritans could rely. When it became necessary to 
excuse other iniquities, advantage was taken of the general be- 
lief in this unfounded calumny to justify any injustice. It is but 
fair to add, says Taylor, that the Catholic nobility and gentry 
not only discouraged, but punished those who committed un- 
necessary cruelties. It woiiM be both wicked and foolish to 
make these sad events a charge against sects and parties at the 
present day. 

The Catholics next prepared an address to the King, in which 
they complained of the treatment they had received from Par- 
sons, whom they justly styled the enemy of the King as well as of 
themselves. They declared their readiness to support the King 
as well as their own rights, and their readiness to meet such com- 
missioners as the government might appoint, in any place where 
they could be protected from the malice of the Puritans. They 
also issued a proclamation worded in the same spirit, and cir- 
culated it extensively through the country. This proclamation 
produced a powerful effect. All the lords of the Pale were in- 
duced now to join the alliance. Every county in Leinster was 
soon at the disposal of the alliance, and the authority of Parsons 
was confined to Dublin and Drogheda, and the latter was closely 
besieged. In Connaught, the city of Galway was held by a 
Catholic nobleman, Lord Clanrickard. 

The Puritans in Munster found Warham St. Leger, Governor 
of that province, a man after their own heart ; his cruelties 
rivaled, if they did not exceed, those of Coote. His brother, 
who lived on confiscated lands in County Tipperary, having 
had some difficulty with the original owners, St. Leger 
marched into that county and put to death several innocent per- 
sons, burned their houses and encouraged his soldiers in the 
commission of every outrage. The gentry of the county remon- 



112 History of Ireland. 

strated against these excesses, but he dismissed them with 
studied insult, and even threats of violence. The Puritans who 
tried to justify St. Leger are reduced to plead an excuse absolute- 
ly ridiculous. They say that he merely retaliated the outrages 
of the insurgents in Ulster. Taylor, in speaking of his excuse, 
says they might just as well assert that the people of Wales 
should have been subjected to military execution for a rebellion 
in the north of Scotland. 

The nobility of Munster, alarmed at the cruelties of St. Leger, 
applied to Parsons for permission to take measures themselves 
for securing public tranquility. Lord Muskerry offered to raise 
a thousand men in support of the government at his own ex- 
pense, and to mortgage his estate in order to supply them with 
arms. A similar offer was made by Lord Mountgarrett ; both 
received a peremptory refusal. They waited until the middle of 
December before they took a decided course, and then for their 
own safety and preservation resolved to join the Confederates. 
The first proceedings of the Munster lords were characterized by 
great promptitude and forbearance. Richard Butler, of Kilcash, 
seized Clonmel, Carrick and Dungarvan without meeting any 
resistance Martin Hackett admitted Butler of Ardmale into 
Fethard, and Cashel was taken by O'Dyer of Dundrum. The 
entire county of Kilkenny was secured by Lord Mountgarrett, 
and Cork by Lord Roche. 

The Earl of Thomond was adverse to the cause of the Con- 
federates, but his followers and relatives set his authority at de- 
fiance, and added the county of Clare to the patriotic associa- 
tion. In all these transactions the lives and properties of Eng- 
lish Protestants were protected by the Catholic nobility. The 
only place where any murders were committed was Cashel ; in 
that place twelve persons were killed by the relations of those 
whom St. Leger had slaughtered a month before. The exertions 
of the Catholic clergy saved the rest, and by their influence the 
Protestants were sent under an escort to the city of Cork. Lord 
Dunboyne sent his prisoners to Youghall. Sir Richard Everard 
and Lord Muskerry gave an asylum in their houses to all Protest- 
ants who sought their protection, and Lord Mountgarrett shot 



. History of Ireland. 113 

Richard Cantwell, a man of great influence, for daring to plun- 
der some of his prisoners. All Munster would have been re- 
duced but for the pride of Lord Roche, who refused obedience 
to Lord Mountgarrett, the leader in Munster. 

This war, on the part of the Irish, was a war for property and 
religion. The northern Irish wished to recover the estates stolen 
from them by Elizabeth and James ; Parsons and his supporters 
desired to enrich themselves by more confiscations. The Puri- 
tans used the sacred name of the Deity to cover their designs, 
but assuredly, ' ' Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods" had 
no influence on the leaders. 

The Catholic lords of the Pale now held a conference with 
O'Moore and other Irish leaders, and asked for what purpose 
they had taken up arms ? O'Moore replied, ' 'To make the peo- 
ple of Ireland as free as those of England. " Lord Gormanstown 
asked if O'Moore had any further design. He answered, " No." 
The Catholic lords then promised to assist him with all their 
might, and, having agreed on a second meeting at the hill of 
Tara, separated to raise their friends. Parsons not havmg re- 
ceived supplies from England became alarmed and sent letters 
to the lords of the Pale, requesting them to come to Dublip 
with all speed to confer on the state of the nation, and, as was 
added, (with a consciousness of being suspected,) for no other 
end. 

Even if these men could have placed any confidence in Parsons 
they had now gone too far to retreat. They answered that they 
would not peril their lives by coming within the influence of such a 
monster as Coote, who had murdered men, women and children 
indiscriminately in his late excursions. 

The civil war had now broken out in England, and the Parlia- 
ment sent over agents to engage the army in Ireland on their 
side. These agents were encouraged by Parsons. Ormond, on 
the other hand, had labored to keep the soldiers loyal, and par- 
tially succeeded. A remonstrance complaining of the manner 
in which the war had been conducted was sent to P^ngland, not- 
withstanding the resistance of Parsons, and soon after he was 



114 History of Ireland. 

further mortified by being obliged to send over the address of 
the Confederates. 

Charles was no longer under the necessity of dissembling with 
the Parliament ; he issued a commission to Ormond, Clanrickard 
and others, empowering them to treat with the Catholics ; he 
removed Parsons from the government of Ireland and appointed 
Sir H. Tichborne in his stead. 

The affairs of the Catholics were now in a prosperous condi- 
tion. O'Neill had defeated Monroe in Ulster. Castlehaven and 
Muskerry defeated Vavasor in Munster and drove Inchiquin to 
his garrisons, ' Connaught was entirely at their disposal, and 
though by the rashness of Preston they had been defeated at Ross, 
Ormond, through the treachery of the Puritan General Lisle, 
could not boast of any advantage. The Puritans, both in Ire- 
land and England, exclaimed violently against any negotiation 
with the Catholics. To pacify these bigots, Ormond avowed 
his readiness to adopt any other mode of pacifying the country, 
and offered to continue the war if they would furnish him with 
ten thousand pounds, half in money and the rest in victuals. 
This arrangement proved the ruin of the Confederates and the 
destruction of the King. Ormond was more bitterly opposed 
to Catholics than Puritans. His hatred of popery, and his love 
of wealth, were too powerful for his loyalty. Knowing the jeal- 
ousy among the Confederates, and hoping to crush popery and 
share in future confiscations, he basely sacrificed to these un- 
worthy motives the liberty of his country and the life of his 
King. 

A cessation of arms was now signed, the Confederates agreed 
to pay thirty thousand pounds to the King. The war ought 
now to have ended, as the Confederates could not be longer re- 
garded as enemies. The loyalty of these men to the King was 
sincere. They were anxious to rescue him from the Puritans, 
but by Ormond they were prevented from using their arms. The 
clergy and the old Irish were dissatisfied with the truce, which 
had checked the tide of their success and weakened their strength 
by sending men and money to aid the King against the Puritans 
in England. The bigots, on the other hand, declared this alii- 



History of Ireland. 115 

ance with Papists was sinful, and sent orders to their generals to 
disregard the truce. 

They now took ten thousand Scotch into their pay and sent 
them to the north of Ireland under Monroe, who landed in 
Ireland in May. Having murdered sixty men, eighteen women, 
and two priests in Newry, he returned to Carrickfergus, laying 
the country waste ; on his march he stole 4,000 head of cattle, 
besides a large amount of other property. The English who 
had joined his army expected a share in the booty, but the 
Scotch claimed all, and the English would no longer join the 
Scotch in their robberies. 

Monroe and his followers now took the solemn league and 
covenant, which had been framed by the Scotch in the begin- 
ning of their wa!r against the King. He was then appointed 
commander-in-chief of all the Puritan forces. The Confederates 
now besought Ormond to lead them against the Scotch, but this 
would have been fatal to his avaricious views. He refused to 
proclaim the Scotch rebels, but was willing to accept men or 
money for the King's service. The Catholics knowing him to be 
dishonest, entrusted the command of the forces sent against Mon- 
roe to Castlehaven. O'Neill, who was provoked by the Confed- 
erates withholding from him the command in Ulster, determined 
on a separation of interests, and Castlehaven, unsupported by 
him, could do nothing ; and Monroe fearing to attack him this 
campaign produced no results. In the meantime the Catholics 
proceeded to lay their demands before the King, and a com- 
mittee of Protestants also sent their plan of pacifying the coun- 
try. 

The articles presented by the rival parties are full of instruction, 
and it is hoped the reader will compare them attentively, as they 
illustrate the objects and motives of the parties to this contest. 

The Catholics asked for freedom of religion for all creeds and 
a repeal of all penal lav/s ; a free Parliament and free speech dur- 
ing the session ; a general act of pardon and the reversal of at- 
tainers against those who had fought in the war ; the exclusion 
from the Irish Parliament of all carpet-baggers, or those not 
residents of the country ; an act declaring the Irish Parliament 



116 History of Ireland. 

independent of that of England ; also an act that no chief Gov- 
ernor should hold office more than three years, and during that 
time he should be disqualified from acquiring lands in the country; 
a Parliamentary inquiry into all breaches of quarter and acts of 
inhumanity committed on either side during the contest ; the 
exclusion of all who had been guilty of such crimes from the acts 
of oblivion, and their punishment in due course of law. 

On the granting of these propositions the Catholics engaged 
to support the King with their lives and fortunes, and to furnish 
ten thousand men immediately for his assistance in England. 

The Protestant deputation demanded the rigorous enforce- 
ment of all penal laws and the immediate disarming of the 
Catholics, and the compelling of them to pay all damages sus- 
tained by Protestants ; of all offences committed by Catholics 
without pardon or mitigation ; the vesting of all estates forfeited 
under the government of Parsons in the crown, and, after satis- 
faction had been made to all who claimed under the acts of 
Parliament, the distribution of the residue entirely to Protest- 
ants. It must be remembered that at the time these proposals 
were made the Catholics were in possession of the entire king- 
dom, except Dublin and a few posts, and that nine-tenths of the 
property and population of the country were Catholic. Yet the 
systems advocated by these violent Protestants prevailed and 
brought on the country nothing but misery and degradation. 

To the reader who has read English authors on the affairs of 
Ireland much of this work will, no doubt, seem like exaggera- 
tion, but the writer spent part of the summer of 1874 in Ireland, 
and is posted on the records of that unhappy country. 

While negotiations were pending between the Catholics and 
the King an unexpected revolution took place in Munster. 
Inchiquin having been refused the office of Lord-President by 
the King, declared for the Parliament and made himself master 
of Cork, Youghall and Kinsale, from which he expelled all the 
Catholic inhabitants. His example was followed by Esmond, 
who betrayed Duncannon to the Puritans also. The Earl of 
Inchiquin was the lineal representative of the royal race of the 
Q'Brieng, but there was never a scourge of Ireland animated by 



History of Ireland. 117 

a greater hatred of his countrymen. Whether fighting for the 
King or the ParHament, and he exchanged sides more than once, 
he was invariably the bitter enemy of his countrymen, and the 
savage profaner of their reh'gious edifices in which the ashes of 
his ancestors reposed. He was a fair sample of those who pro- 
fessed the Protestant religion under Elizabeth. His name is held 
in the traditions of Munster as the symbol of everything that is 
wicked and terrible. Nurses scare their children with the 
threat of calling Blutk MiirrougJi (9' Brien. His cruelty at the 
famous Rock of Cashel presents a remarkable contrast to the 
conduct of the Catholics at the same place. When he stormed 
Cashel he pursued the fugitives into the Cathedral of that city, 
situated on the Rock, there mercilessly slaughtered the unresist- 
ing multitude, and the blood of no less than twenty-five priests 
polluted the altars of the God of Mercy. 

When the news of this revolution reached Kilkenny the Coun- 
cil directed Castlehaven to march against Inchiquin, while Pres- 
ton was sent against Duncannon. The English Parliament 
seemed in no hurry to succor their new partisans. Preston took 
Duncannon after a short siege, and Castlehaven, having defeated 
Inchiquin in the field, proceeded to reduce the castles of the 
usurpers along the rivers Lee and Black water. He took several 
places of importance, and made many prisoners ; and finally ad- 
vancing to the coast laid siege to Youghall, though the place 
was well garrisoned, and further protected by two frigates which 
lay in the harbor. Castlehaven directed his Lieutenant-General, 
Furcell, to attack Croker's works, which formed an acivanced 
post on the south, while he, crossing the Blackwater, planted 
his cannon on a point which juts out opposite the town. The 
fire of these guns destroyed one of the frigates, but Purcell was 
defeated in a sally of the garrison, and before this calamity could 
be remedied the siege was raised by the arrival of the Puritan 
Lord Broghill. Winter, now set in and military operations were 
laid aside to resume the long pending negotiations. Ormond 
really never wished for peace, and the Catholics feeling that 
their claims were more moderate than justice required, refused 
to recede. 



118 History of Ireland. 

In the meantime Owen O'Neill, who commanded the Irish 
troops in Ulster, collected his forces in the month of May, 
amounting to five thousand men, and marched to Armagh. 
Monroe led his army of seven thousand Scotch and English and 
encamped within a few miles of the same place. Being informed 
that O'Neill was encamped at Benburb, Monroe marched the 
next day to attack him, but though superior in numbers to 
O'Neill he sent orders to his brother, George Monroe, who com- 
manded at Colerain, to come and join him at Glasslough, near 
O'Neill's camp. O'Neill despatched Colonels McMahon and 
McNeny with their regiments to prevent this junction. They 
met and cut the enemy, commanded by young Monroe, to peices 
and returned next day to Benburb, where they shared with 
O'Neill the honor of the victory they had gained over the Scotch 
and English. O'Neill was favorably posted between two hills, 
his rear being covered by a wood and his right extending along 
the Blackwater. Being apprised that Monroe was at Glasslough 
he moved his cavalry to a height, from which he viewed the 
Scotch army on the opposite side of the river. The two armies 
began to prepare for battle. O'Neill kept the enemy employed 
in skirmishing waiting for the sun, which annoyed his troops 
during the day, to go down behind the wood. He was also ex- 
pecting some troops he had sent the evening before against the 
enemy at Colerain. When Monroe saw this force arrive he 
thought they were coming to join himself from the same place, 
but found his mistake on seeing them enter O'Neill's camp. 
O'Neill now ordered an advance within the reach of the pike, and 
his orders in this were most valiantly executed. The English, 
regiment, after a vigorous fight, were completely cut to pieces, 
and the Scotch cavalry being broken by the Irish the rout be- 
came general. There was but one regiment, that of Mongomery, 
that retreated in a body, the rest that escaped were thrown into 
the greatest disorder. Conway, who had two horses killed un- 
der him, with about forty men, finally reached Newry. Mont- 
gomery, with twenty-one officers and two hundred soldiers, was 
taken prisoner ; three thousand, two hundred and forty-three 
of the enemy fell on the field and hundreds were killed in the 



History of Ireland. 119 

the pursuit. The loss on the side of the Irish amounted to 
seventy men killed and two hundred wounded. The whole of 
the Scotch artillery, arms, tents and baggage, and thirty-two 
stand of colors were taken. The booty was immense ; it con- 
sisted of fifteen hundred draft horses and provisions of every , 
kind for two months. Monroe saved himself with difficulty on 
horseback and fled without hat or wig. After his defeat he 
burned Dundrum and abandoned Portadown and Downpatrick, 
and his troops fled to Scotland for .safety. 

The King finding Ormond disobedient determined to try 
another negotiator. He sent the Earl of Glamorgan with full 
power to treat with the Irish. This treaty Glamorgan declared 
was too favorable to the Catholics to be published at that time, 
as the rage against popery amounted to national insanity. The 
treaty was simply this : That the Catholics should pay their own 
clergy and Protestants should do the same. The Protestant his- 
torians describe this aiticle and another statute in the reign of 
James the Second, as a cruel mockery, because Protestant min- 
isters in Ireland had no congregations. To which the Catholic 
writers reply, Why then should they be paid ? And it has never 
been the good fortune of the writer to meet with a satisfactory 
answer to this question. A second article of this treaty was, 
that Protestants vacate all churches which formerly belonged to 
Catholics. This was also objected to by the Puritans, regardless 
of the command "Thou shalt not .steal." Verily, bigotry and 
fanaticism must have been on a strike in those days. 

A scene of cruelty and barbarity, of which no history furnishes 
an example, was now being enacted in England. A King sold 
by his fanatical subjects in Scotland to their English Puritan 
brethren for a sum of money, dragged from prison to prison, and 
at length publicly executed on a scaffold. 

SUCH WAS THE TRAGICAL END OF CHARLES THE FIRST. 

Cox, an English historian says: "I could wish to throw 
a veil over the 30th day of January, that frightful day on which 
the King suffered martyrdom. O ! that I could say they were 
Irishmen who committed the abominable deed, and that it could 



120 History of Ireland. 

be laid at the door of the Papists ; but it is true that others were 
the actors." This exclamation of Cox shows fully his disposi- 
tion toward a people whose history he attempts to write, and 
is also a fair sample of what those Americans who read English 
authors learn of Ireland and Irishmen. 

The monarchy and House of Lords being overthrown in Eng- 
land, the government of Ireland became an object of dispute to 
all parties. The factions among the Puritans had each their 
favorites, but after some debating they finally agreed on Oliver 
Cromwell. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Oliver GromwelFs Administration of Affairs in Ireland. — He Par- 
tially Subjugates the People by Inhuman Cruelties. 



pLIVER CROMWELL was appointed to the command 
^v^ of the Puritan army in Ireland in 1644, and accompanied 
by his son-in-law Ireton, he set out with a powerful army, con- 
sisting of seven regiments of infantry, four of cavalry and one 
of dragoons. 

Having landed in Dublin he marched to Drogheda. A sum- 
mons to surrender the town being rejected, Cromwell ordered 
a general assault to be made. Heath says Cromwell's troops 
were twice repulsed with fearful loss, but a third attack suc- 
ceeded and the place was taken. Orders were issued to give 
no quarter ; the garrison was put to the sword. This is the Pur- 
itan version, but the truth is Cromwell offered the garrison 
quarter on laying down their arms. When they had done so he 
ordered his troops to shoot down every man in the garrison. 
Aston, the commander ; General Varney, Colonels Wale, War- 
ren, Dunne, Tempest, Finglass, and several other officers of 
distinction, besides three thousand soldiers, were inhumanly slain 
after having laid down their arms. In either case this massacre 
was inhuman. The truth only shows Cromwell was both treach- 
erous and cruel. He next marched to Wexford and summoned 
it to surrender. Colonel Synnot, the commander, in order to 
gain time offered terms which were refused. During the delay 
Castlehaven arrived with a regiment of infantry, and next day 
one thousand men arrived under Sir Edmond Butler. Stafford, 
who commanded the Castle, treacherously surrendered it to 
Cromwell, and the garrison was butchered by that tyrant to the 
number of two thousand. Sir Edmond Butler was killed by a 



122 History of Ireland. 

musket ball while swimming to save himself. Every step of 
Cromwell was marked by savage ferocity. 

Two hundred ladies of Wexford, who sought with tears to 
propitiate the tyrant's rage, were massacred in the public square 
with hundreds of innocent children, and it is said that the fanati- 
cal soldiers would pitch a dead child from one to another along 
the line with their bayonets. 

Some account of the fanatics who composed this army is neces- 
sary for understanding the history of Ireland, or its present con- 
dition. The historians of Ireland, both Protestant and Catholic, 
have been unanimous in the condemnation of Cromwell. Even 
to this day the heaviest execration an Irish peasant can pro- 
nounce is, "The curse of Cromwell be upon you!" Every 
mouldering castle, and every desecrated church, is supposed to 
be his work, even in places Avhere he never visited ; and he is 
charged with all the cruelties of the Royalists and Puritans be- 
fore he came to the country. Cromwell, before his departure 
for Ireland, had begun to form those ambitious schemes which 
he afterwards carried out. He saw that those wild and visionary 
fanatics, who had been hitherto his supporters, would be his 
fiercest enemies when they found their pet scheme of govern- 
ment could not be realized. 

The Levelers, as the fanatics were called, were intent on estab- 
lishing a species of theocracy, which they denominated "the 
dominion of the Lord and His saints." They believed them- 
selves the chosen of heaven, and many laid claim to supernatural 
powers. In some of their pamphlets and sermons published at 
the time of their highest excitement, we find them proposing* to 
make the Constitution of the Jews before the time of Saul the 
model after which the new government of England should be 
formed. Such schemes would now be received with laughter, 
but at the time of which we write were advocated by men who 
in other respects displayed wisdom and ability. The expedition 
to Ireland gave Cromwell an opportunity of removing these wild 
enthusiasts. The troops sent to Ireland were the most violent 
and fanatical part of the English army. 



History of Ireland. 123 

When the battalions were assembled at Bristol the preachers 
labored to work upon their fanaticism. They were compared to 
the Israelites who destroyed the idolatrous inhabitants of Canaan, 
and described as the chosen instruments by which heaven was 
to overthrow popery and establish in its stead pure Christianity. 
Arguments addressed to superstition or fanaticism have rarely 
failed. The soldiers embarked with enthusiasm, though there were 
at times some misgivings that they were to be offered up as a 
holocost before the purification of Ireland from the abominations 
of popery could be effected. 

Taylor says : ' ' The Puritan garrison of Dublin received with 
joy these men, whose pious zeal far exceeded their own, and as 
enthusiasm is catching soon learned to imitate them." The 
most remarkable feature in the character of the fanatics was a 
furious hatred of Catholicity, a religion which they only knew 
by name, but which they firmly believed to be an abomination 
in the sight of heaven, which, if permitted to exist, Avould bring 
down vengeance on the land. Their holy rage was principally 
directed against the Cross, which they stigmatized as the "mark 
of the beast," and with strange inconsistency labored to destroy 
every symbol of that in which they alone expect salvation. This 
extraordinary state of things may still be found among the de- 
scendants of these adventurers. They also opposed the observ- 
ance of Christmas, the great anniversary of the birth of Christ ; 
and their descendants in Massachusetts passed laws to punish 
those who would observe it as a holiday, and that it should be 
entirely forgotten they observed what they termed thanksgiving 
as a substitute, and the influence of their descendants has kept 
it up in free America even to this day. The misapplication of 
Jewish history to Christian communities, and a perverted inter- . 
preting of the revelations of Saint John, still characterize the 
successors of Cromwell's Puritans. They also objected to the 
word Saint, and their descendants even yet in reading the 
Evangelists omit the word. 

An instance of the feelings of the descendants of the Crom- 
wellians was exhibited lately in Ireland. The communion table 
in the church at Youghall stands in a recess in the wall ; it was 



124 History of Ireland. 

resolved to ornament the sides of the recess with tablets of the 
Apostles' Creed and the Commandments. The artist who did 
the work introduced two crosses as ornaments in the side of the 
arches. Had the Pope of Rome came in person to celebrate 
High Mass in the church/greater indignation could not have 
been displayed by these pious Puritans. They said the mark of 
the beast had been erected in the house of the Lord, and that it 
must be removed. ' 'After a struggle between common sense and 
bigotry," says Taylor, "the crosses which really looked very 
pretty were effaced, and in their place two unmeaning lumps of 
plaster with the words Holy Bible beneath. There were a few 
who defended the crosses, and they were set down as Papists ; 
others laughed at the whole proceeding and were of course 
called infidels." 

The following hymn, in which Babylon typifies the Catholic 
Church, is sung in the public worship of the Puritans in Ireland : 

"In Gabriel's hand a mighty stone stands a fair type of Babylon; 
Christians rejoice, and all ye Saints, God will avenge your long complaints, 
He said, and dreadful as he stood, he plunged the millstone in the flood, 
Thus terribly shall popery fall, and never more be found at all." 

Taylor assures his readers that he has very frequently heard 
this precious piece of nonsense sung as a hymn in several of the 
Puritan chapels in Ireland. It is a strange instance of the 
vicissitudes of fortune that the soldiers sent into Ireland with 
Cromwell as victims eventually obtained wealth and estates, 
while their brethren, who remained in England by special favor, 
sank after the Restoration into poverty and contempt. The 
soldiers of the tyrant established their dominion over the fairest 
parts of Ireland, and though the mills of providence grind slow, 
their day of reckoning will come. 

From Wexford Cromwell marched to Ross, which was sur- 
rendered by Luke Taffe on condition that the garrison should 
march out with their arms. Duncannon was not so easy a prey. 
Here Cromwell was forced to raise the siege. But Cork, 
Youghall, and other places garrisoned by Englishmen, who 
hoped to receive bribes, declared in favor of Cromwell and de- 



History of Ireland. 125 

serted in bands to range themselves under his standard. The 
garrison of Kilkenny, after a noble resistance, surrendered by 
capitulation. The last expedition of Cromwell was against 
Clonmel, which was defended by sixteen hundred Ulster men, 
commanded by Hugh O'Neill, nephew of Owen Roe O'Neill. 
Cromwell now commenced the siege, and having effected a 
breach, ordered an assault, contrary to the advice of his officers. 
He was repulsed with the loss of two thousand of his best 
soldiers. Heath says the hypocrite was the first to see his rash- 
ness. In accordance with his usual frenzy he called in reli- 
gion to aid him and help him out, attributing his defeat to too 
great a confidence in human arms, and to atone for such im- 
piety he commanded a fast to be observed by the whole army. 

Clonmel, situated on the river Suir, County Tipperary, is one 
of the most important inland towns in Ireland. Like every 
town in that unfortunate island it has a history to tell of English 
cruelty and barbarism. It bore the brunt of the battle against 
the remorseless soldiers of Cromwell, and gave him the greatest 
drubbing he ever got in Ireland. 

Among O'Neill's troops who defended Clonmel there was a 
traitor named Fennell (the name sounds English) who was Major 
of dragoons. He entered into a correspondence with Cromwell, 
who offered to give him five hundred pounds sterling provided 
he would, on the night of the 9th of May, open the gate on 
the north side of the tcJwn. Fennell accepted the offer, and on 
the night agreed upon drew off the Ulster men who had charge 
of that gate and replaced them with a party of his own. 

Now, on that night O'Neill could not rest. He felt that a 
crisis was at hand, and he resolved to make a personal inspection 
of the various posts. On reaching the gate, from which the Uls- 
ter troops had been withdrawn, it occurred to him that there 
was some treason brewing, and he lost not a moment in sum- 
moning the traitor to his presence. "Why, sir," demanded the 
General, ' ' have you removed the Ulster troops from the gate ? 
Why have you not obeyed my orders ? Come, disclose 
the whole truth, or you are likely to pay dear for it." Fennell 
then offered to reveal the whole conspiracy on condition that the 



126 History of Ireland. 

General would pardon him. "Tell the truth," replied O'Neill, 
"and you may count on my forgiveness." Fennell then con- 
fessed that he had agreed to open that gate to the enemy for 
five hundred pounds, and no sooner was O'Neill aware of this 
than he ordered strong re-enforcements to the various posts, and 
an addition of five hundred men to the gate in question. All 
this was done noiselessly, and at the appointed hour the gate 
was opened and a regiment of Cromwell's soldiers entered. No 
sooner had the last man entered than the gate was securely 
shut. The Irish having heard of the cruelties of Cromwell at 
Drogheda and Wexford, slaughtered them without mercy ; 
every man of them was slain. Disconcerted and angry at this 
unexpected issue, Cromwell ordered up the battering guns, 
breached the wall, and made it, as he thought, assailable for 
both horse and foot. O'Neill, however, lost no time in causing 
a counterscarp and a ditch to be made right opposite the breach, 
and he also posted a large body of sharpshooters in the houses 
standing near the walls, who opened a galling fire on the as- 
sailants as they advanced. The assault now began in right earn- 
est, the Cromwellians never thinking of the ditch and coun- 
terscarp which barred their progress ; and so valiantly did the 
Irish behave on that awful night that they several times beat 
back their assailants as they advanced. Resolved, however, to 
win or lose all, Cromwell poured his masses pell-mell into the 
ditch, where they were slaughtered without mercy. 

The war-cry of O'Neill was ably seconded by the slogan of 
Tipperary, and together they cut down the English ranks until 
at last, unable to withstand the charge of the Irish, the Crom- 
wellians rushed back through the breach into their camp, leaving 
the Irish in possession of the town they so gallantly defended. 
Their General tried to rally them once more, but they were 
afraid to enter that fatal breach, and Cromwell fearing that any 
further attempt might compromise his army, withdrew to his 
camp, leaving O'Neill the breached and bloody wall. On that 
night the gallant General held a council of war, and finding that 
his soldiers had exhausted their ammunition and provisions he 
marched quietly out of town, and crossing the mountains pro- 



History of Ireland. 127 

ceeded to Waterford ; nor was it known to Cromwell that he 
was gone till next morning, when a deputation of townsmen 
waited on him in his camp and offered to capitulate. Cromwell 
readily accepted their terms, not knowing O'Neill was already 
gone. 

Whitlock says of this siege, that Cromwell found in Clonmel 
the stoutest enemy he had encountered in Ireland. And never 
was seen so hot a storm of so long continuance and gallantly de- 
fended. O'Neill hastened by forced marches to Limerick, which 
he defended valiantly against Ireton, until again betrayed on 
two several occasions by Fennell, he had to capitulate. Fennell, 
however, got the death he deserved, for Ireton excepted him 
from pardon and caused him to be executed as a traitor to friend 
and foe. He died the death of a dog, and so perish all traitors, 
say we. During the siege of Clonmel Cromwell received orders 
from the Parliament to return speedily to England, where his 
presence was necessary to meet the Scotch Royalists who were 
up in arms for the King. 

He therefore embarked at Youghall the 29th of May and left 
the command of the army to Ireton, his son-in-law, who marched 
next day and laid siege to Limerick, but was obliged to abandon 
it on account of winter. 

Charles, Prince of Wales, son of Charles the First, and true 
heir to the crown of Great Britain, was then at Breda. Com- 
missioners were sent to him to treat with him for his restoration 
to the throne of Scotland. The terms these fanatics offered to 
the King were both hard and insolent. First, the King was to 
banish from his court all excommunicated persons. Those Puri- 
tans had already excommunicated all those who would not 
swear to the covenant, which was a compact made by the Puri- 
tans of Scotland. Its object was the extirpation of popery and 
prelacy. Second, he should affirm that he would himself accept 
their covenant. Third, he should bind himself to ratify all the 
acts of Parliament which decreed the government to be Presby- 
terian, also all decrees of the kirk, and should himself conform 
to all of these in his domestic habits. Fourth, he should admit 



128 History of Ireland. 

all civil cases to be settled by the Parliament of Scotland, and ec- 
clesiastical affairs by the kirk. 

Charles was placed in a dilemma. His friends were divided in 
opinion, some being opposed to such hard and disgraceful 
terms, while others who had suffered banishment in his cause, 
and were desirous of returning, urged him to accept the con- 
ditions. He therefore adopted their advice and submitted to the 
terms of the Commissioners. A frigate, commanded by Van 
Tromp, was ready to receive him at the Hague, and after a 
stormy voyage landed on the i6th of June, 1650, at Spey, in the 
north of Scotland. Charles was received by the Scotch with 
much show but little sincerity. He was obliged to sign the 
covenant and dismiss his followers. He submitted, however, in 
everything without security for life or freedom, and was treated 
more like a school boy who feared his master than a King who 
ruled his subjects. Charles had good cause to mistrust the 
Scotch, they had sold his father to the English Parliament for 
40,000 pounds sterling, only four pence for each individual in 
Scotland, or a groat, which is a Scotch coin of eight cents. The 
writer has often heard in Ireland the following rhyme : 

' ' Shame ! Shame ! vile Scot, 
You sold your King for a groat. " 

The news that Prince Charles had arrived in Scotland soon 
reached England. The Parliament being alarmed, collected an 
army and offered the command to Lord Fairfax, who refused 
it and thus laid the foundation of Cromwell's greatness, who had 
just returned from Ireland. He was appointed commander-in- 
chief of the army intended for Scotland and marched toward 
Berwick, near the frontier. The Scotch raised an army to op- 
pose Cromwell. The chief command was reserved for Prince 
Charles, who was proclaimed King of Scotland on the 15 th of 
July at the cross of Edinburgh. Cromwell entered Scotland at 
the head of sixteen thousand men and met the Scotch army of 
twenty-four thousand near Dunbar. The engagement was bloody, 
but Cromwell remained master of the field. The loss of the 
Scotch was four thousand slain, nine thousand prisoners with all 



History of Ireland. 129 

their arms and baggage. Cromwell now took Edinburgh and 
Leith and placed his army in winter quarters. 

The portion of the Scotch army that escaped withdrew to 
Stirling, where Charles was crowned King of Scotland. He now 
supposed he ought to be his own master, but soon found he was 
subjected to the Covenanters and fanatical Puritans. Higgins 
says : "Weary therefore of his subjection he determined to return 
to the continent, preferring his freedom to the empty title of 
King. On the last day of July, with his army of fourteen thou- 
sand men, he advanced by forced marches to Carlisle in Eng- 
land, where he was crowned King of Great Britain. He then 
published manifestoes granting a general amnesty to his English 
subjects, except Cromwell, Bradshaw and Cook, they being 
most criminal in the murder of the King his father. The King 
continued his march to Worcester pursued by Cromwell, and on 
the 3rd of September was defeated near that city. After having 
encountered in disguise a variety of adventures, he found a ves- 
sel ready to sail and by this means got safe to France." 

The Irish Royalists, among whom were Catholics as well as 
Protestants, still kept under arms. Ormond, who was com- 
mander-in-chief, was displeased that the King had granted the 
Catholics any freedom in their religion. Finding himself unable 
to oppose Ireton, he surrendered the command of the army to 
Clanrickard and embarked for France. A. D. 1650, Ireton 
again resumed the siege of Limerick which he had abandoned, 
but the noble defence of Hugh O'Neill made him feel dearly the 
taking of that city. 

The Parliament of England hoping to detach the Irish from 
the cause of the King, made them such offers as appeared fair 
and reasonable, but these Royalists rejected them unanimously. 
After Charles had fled from England the Irish kept up the war 
till 1653, when it was found impracticable to continue the war 
any longer. Most of the Irish army then preferred to leave their 
country rather than live under the bloody rule of the Puritans. 
Circumstances favored their proposal, Cromwell being employed 
in forming his new mode of government, [the protectorate. By 
his own authority he granted the Irish army their request, and 



130 History of Ireland. 

most of them embarked for France and Spain. Those, however, 
whom age and infirmities rendered unable to accompany their 
countrymen, were treated with the most savage barbarity ; 
twenty thousand, both soldiers and country people, were trans- 
ported to America and sold to the planters in Virginia and the 
Carolinas. 

The Catholic officers and nobility were forced to abandon 
their estates in the other provinces and cross the river Shannon 
into Connaught and County Clare, and the penalty was death to 
return without his (Cromwell's) special permission. Here they 
were subjected to the insolence, oppression, and cruelty of the 
tyrants who ruled over them. 

Cromwell, in the meantime, either wishing to conciliate the 
Irish by kindness, or give Europe a favorable opinion of himself, 
established a court at Athlone by which it was decreed to grant 
to the proscribed proprietors a portion of land sufficient for their 
subsistence. By this regulation some of these gentlemen en- 
joyed in Connaught a fraction of the revenues they possessed at 
home. Such grants, though moderate, excited the enmity of 
the Puritans. They were determined to cut off at a blow the 
wretched remains of the unhappy Irish, and it was by a peculiar 
favor of Providence they escaped their wicked designs. These 
Puritans who were put in possession of the Catholic estates felt 
while seeing them exist self-condemnation and reproach, and 
although they did all their stealing in the name of the Lord, yet 
they seem to have had misgivings while seeing those they dis- 
possessed. The Catholics suffered many years under these 
tyrants. Their hope was in the King being restored. They cal- 
culated on a restitution of their property sacrificed in his cause, 
but unhappily that event produced a sorrowful reverse in their 
hopes. Cromwell, who had been the instrument of abolishing 
monarchy in England, now turned his arms against his masters. 
He suppressed by his own authority the Parliament to which he 
was indebted for his power. Attended by armed men he entered 
the hall, and after stating his motives for doing so ordered the 
Parliament to disperse, placing guards on all the avenues that 
led to the house. The only sen.sation this event produced in 



History of Ireland. 131 

England was one of railery. One of the songs in their places of 
amusement was, "Twelve Parliament men for a penny." 

On landing in Scotland Charles, with shameless perjury, swore 
to observe "the solemn league and covenant." But his crime 
brought its own punishment. He had no sooner arrived than 
he found himself a mere tool in the hands of the Presbyterian 
faction, who compelled him to publish a declaration de- 
nouncing the peace which Ormond had made with the Irish, 
acknowledging the sinfulness of forming any compact with 
Papists, and revoking all commissions granted by the Lord- 
Lieutenant in Ireland. 

Taylor says when Ireton laid siege to Limerick the place was 
defended with great spirit by Hugh O'Neill. A plague, how- 
ever, wasted the garrison, and some purposed surrender. Ireton 
offered pardon to all but twenty-four, among whom were the 
bishops of Limerick and Emly. Great was the indignation of 
the people. Hugh O'Neill endeavored to inspire them with 
courage and exhorted them to persevere in their defence, but 
Fennell and others seized the keys, opened two of the gates, 
drove away O'Neill's guards and admitted Ireton's soldiers. 
Ireton immediately ordered Fennell to be executed, though he 
pleaded his former treachery as a recommendation to favor. 
But though Ireton availed himself of the treason, he was not the 
less disposed to punish the traitor, and the miscreant met the 
just reward of his crimes. With him were executed the Bishop 
of Emly and Friar Walsh. The most conspicuous victim selected 
by Ireton was the gallant Hugh O'Neill, whose brave defence of 
Clonmel should have recommended him to the esteem of every 
brave man. 

O'Neill defended himself as a man and a soldier. He said he 
had left an honorable position in foreign service to come to the 
assistance of his countrymen ; that he had always acted the part 
of an honorable enemy, and an unjust sentence would leave no 
stain on his character. Ireton, notwithstanding, persuaded the 
judges to pronounce sentence of death, but Ludlow opposed 
the sentence, not that he was less cruel, as his objection was the 
odium which the execution would bring on the English name 



132 History of Ireland. 

abroad where O'Neill was known and respected. His life was 
consequently spared. 

Ireton now seized the Castle of Clare to threaten Galway 
before marching into winter quarters. During the winter Ireton 
died of the plague. His character was very inhuman, yet San- 
key and Actel, two of his military governors, far outstripped 
him in cruelty. One example of Sankey's mode of administer- 
ing justice will be sufficient. One of his soldiers was killed dur- 
ing the time he was military governor of the County Tipperary, 
and all his efforts to discover the murderer failed. Sankey 
summoned all the inhabitants of the township in which the man 
was slain at Tethard, and having compelled them to cast lots 
hanged five on whom the lots fell. 

Like the other fanatics of that gloomy period, Ireton thor- 
oughly detested the Catholic religion and deemed that its ex- 
termination would be an acceptable service to the Almighty. 
On this account he showed no mercy to the clergy, but hanged 
all that fell into his hands. This is not strange, as the Catholic 
clergy were always the advocates of mercy and justice, virtues 
which Ireton and the Puritans never learned. 

Phelim O'Neill, the beginner of this war, again became con- 
spicuous before its close, when, joining the Earl of Clanrickard, 
they captured the forts of Ballyshannon and Donnegal. These 
places, however, were soon retaken by the Puritans, when 
Clanrickard fled for safety to the continent, but Sir Phelim fell 
into the hands of his enemies. When Fleetwood, Cromwell's 
deputy, landed there was scarcely a Royalist under arms in 
Ireland. 

Cromwell after this assumed the title of Protector. The Puri- 
tans, who would not bear the government of their lawful King, 
submitted quietly to this tyranny, which continued to 

THE DEATH OF CROMWELL, SEPTEMBER 3RD, 1658. 

After the death of the usurper public affairs were in too des- 
perate a state to continue long as they stood. At such a crisis 
some of course had their fears, some their hopes, among the 
former were the Cromwellians of Ireland. Broghill and Coote, 



History of Ireland. 133 

their leaders, dispatohed emissaries to England to sound the 
disposition of the people in order that they might act as best 
suited their own views. Having found they were in favor of re- 
storing the King they returned to Dublin, where they called a 
meeting of the Irish Parliament, which was composed of their 
own creatures, they being all in possession of the goods of 
others. Their deliberation was how they could hold on to their 
ill-gotten store, and prevent the Irish from regaining their estates 
so liberally bestowed upon themselves by Cromwell. 

They foresaw that as soon as the King would ascend the throne 
of his ancestors he would, or at least should, reinstate the 
Catholics in their rights ; they resolved, therefore, to counteract 
this by putting in prison all the Irish who had any claims. To 
give a color of justice to their proceedings. Sir John Clotworthy, 
a bigoted Puritan, was sent to England to show how dangerous 
it would be to the Protestant interest to restore the Irish to their 
property. This Clotworthy was an ardent persecutor of the 
Catholics, and also opposed to the King. On his arrival in Lon- 
don he spread a report that a rebellion had broken out in Ireland, 
in confirmation of which he had letters sent by his friends to 
merchants in England, and copies of these forged letters sent to 
every part of England. This gave rise to a proclamation against 
the Irish Papists which the Parliament presented to the King on 
his restoration, though it was well known to them that the re- 
port of insurrection was founded only on the eagerness of some 
Catholics in taking possession of their estates without the form- 
ality of law, which they considered useless, as these lands had 
been taken from them a few years ago by a tyrant who ac- 
knowledged no law but that of the strongest. 

Coote, Clotworthy, Broghill, and others, who had been so cruel 
under the Protector, now sent commissioners to the King at Breda 
to assure him of their allegiance and devotedness to his cause. 
The submission of these traitors was made when they could no 
longer oppose the return of the King. Cox says, they, meaning 
the Puritans, joyfully agreed to the restoration of the King, and 
that the Papists had no part in this revolution, but wishing to 
enjoy the fruits of the labors of other people many of them took 



134 History of Ireland. 

possession of their estates, and this became so general that the 
convention was obHged to issue a decree on the 20th of May, 
1660, for the security of peace and property. May we not ask 
what were the rights of the Puritans who held those estates, 
which this convention was obHged to secure by decree ? The 
length of possession did not exceed ten years, and they were 
given by Cromwell as a reward to the accomplices of his crimes. 
The right of these Puritans to those lands was the right of the 
highwayman to our purse. The reader can decide on the right 
derived from such a title and possession. Cox admits that 
these lands were the ancient patrimony of those Irish Papists. 

When the day of Ireland's triumph comes, as come it must, 
it will avail but little for one of those legalized robbers to tell 
the people that his lands have descended to him from his ances- 
tors, when they know that these ancestors, backed by English 
bayonets, despoiled their fathers of the land which God had 
given them, and in consequence made beggars of their offspring. 

On the 26th of September, 1653, the English Parliament de- 
clared that "the rebels in Ireland were subdued and the rebel- 
lion ended." 

The greater part of the nobility and gentry, with the flower 
of the army, had sought an asylum in foreign lands. The estates 
of the Catholics were deserted rather than forfeited, and the 
Puritans began a system of confiscation more cruel and unjust 
than Elizabeth, James, or Charles had ventured upon. Crom- 
well's Parliament boasted of its attachment to liberty, yet it was 
by no means scrupulous in robbing those who were subjected to 
its power, which proves the truth of a saying that large bodies 
are insensible to shame, and that a collection of men will consent 
to acts from which each individual would have shrunk with hor- 
ror. And alas! it is so even in this free land of America. There 
is not an individual man in the United States, perhaps, who 
would ask of another assistance to help him educate his children, 
much less attempt to oblige him to do so, and yet in this good 
State of Ohio, and perhaps in all the States, poor workingmen 
are obliged by the laws not only to help to educate the children 
of the rich, but also to buy maps, pianos, carpets, drawing ma- 



History of Ireland. 135 

terials and other extravagances, which the children of the poor 
man can never enjoy. Americans collectively think, perhaps 
honestly, this is all right, and even boast of what they call our 
free schools. But to return: A proposition was made in the Puri- 
tan Parliament by some of the wilder fanatics, who deemed them- 
selves commissioned by heaven to execute the same vengeance 
on the idolatrous Papists that the Jews did on the inhabitants of 
Canaan. They preferred the denunciations of the old Testament 
to the mercies of the New, and proclaimed themselves rather 
the servants of a God of vengeance than of a God of love. Those 
mistaken votaries of the Mosaic, rather than the Christian dis- 
pensation, have not yet quite disappeared, but they are now 
few and their influence contemptible ; but in Cromwell's day, 
and long after, such opinions were both spoken and defended. 
Instead of thinking intolerance disgraceful, men seemed to think 
that the more violent their expressions were, the more they 
showed the sincerity of their attachment to what they thought 
pure religion. Not a few of the Puritan preachers of that day 
denounced from pulpits the sparing of the Catholics as a hein- 
ous sin, and urged the godly to continue the work of slaughter, 
' 'even as Samuel had hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at 
Gilgal." A common expression in the mouth of the fanatics, 
which they regarded at once as a prophecy and precept, was 
that passage in the Psalms, "That thy feet may be dipped in 
the blood of thine enemies, and that the tongue of thy dogs may 
be red with the same." This sentence is still used as a pass- 
word by the Orangemen of the north of Ireland. Thinking men 
of all creeds at this day look back at the deeds and sayings of 
these fanatics with shame and horror. So will a future genera- 
tion of Americans be heartily ashamed of the laws by which at 
this day about one-third of the people are obliged to support a 
system of schools which conscience forbids them to use. 

But though the lives of the Irish were spared, they (Cromwell 
and his Parliament, felt no scruple about robbing them of their 
property. All Catholics in Ireland possessed of more than ten 
pounds, or fifty dollars, were divided into four classes, each sub- 
jected to different degrees of forfeiture. 



136 History of Ireland. 

First, all Jesuits, priests, or bishops, were exempt from par- 
don of life or estate. 

Second, all persons who had been in command of the army in 
Ireland against the Parliament of England were to be banished 
during the pleasure of the Parliament, and to forfeit two-thirds 
of their estates, and their wives and children to be assigned 
lands to the value of the other third where the Parliament should 
appoint. 

Third, all persons of the popish religion who resided in 
Ireland from the first of October, 1641, to the first of March, 
1650, and had not always been friendly to the Parliament, were 
to forfeit one-third of their estates and be assigned lands for the 
other two-thirds where the Parliament should appoint. 

Fourth, all other persons, meaning Protestants of course, 
who had not been in arms for the Parliament, having an oppor- 
tunity to do so, were to forfeit one-fifth of their estates. There 
were even then in Ireland some humane Protestants who would 
not join those fanatics in robbing and murdering their Catholic 
neighbors, and to these Cromwell showed little mercy. 

Finally, the Marquis of Ormond, the Earls of Inchiquin, Ross- 
common and Bramhall, and the Protestant Bishop of Derry, 
were distinctly mentioned by name, and declared unworthy of 
pardon for life, title, or estate. 

High courts of justice, a species of court-martial, in which 
Cromwell's officers were both judges and jurors, were not 
very strict about the letter of the law, or the strict rules of evi- 
dence ; and they were inclined to severity by their prejudices 
and their interest, as they generally got possession of the lands 
of those they found guilty. They found a scarcity of victims 
after the severest inquisition ; not quite two hundred could be 
charged, even by this court, with illegal murders during the ten 
years' war, and the evidence against many of those was such 
as would be rejected in any court of justice. Lord Mayo and 
Colonel Bagnall were certainly condemned unjustly, and Lord 
Muskerry would have shared the same fate had not a number of 
Protestant settlers came forward to bear grateful testimony of 
the protection he had afforded them. In Ulster, the chief vie- 



History of Ireland. 137 

tim was Sir Phelim O'Neill, who had been the first to take up 
arms against the Puritans, and whose followers were charged 
with the excesses on which the tale of the pretended Irish mas- 
sacre was founded. Nothing in the life of this unfortunate chief 
was as honorable as his death. The Parliament was now 
determined on the death of the King, and offered O'Neill pardon 
and restoration of his estates if he would produce any kind of 
proof (note the words, reader, ' ' any kind of proof, ") of his being 
encouraged by the King in his insurrection. But he affirmed 
to the last hour of his life that he had never had any authority 
from the King, and preferred death to perjury and dishonor. 

The disposal of the forfeited estates was the next object of the 
Parliament. An act, called the Adventurers' Act, which had 
been passed at the commencement of the civil war, provided that 
the lands of those who were in arms should be divided among such 
persons as should advance money and become adventurers in 
the subjection of Ireland. Two millions and a half of acres were 
to be assigned and allotted in the following proportions, viz: 
Each adventurer of i^200 was to have i,ooo acres in Ulster ; of 
i^300, i,ooo acres in Connaught; of ^450, 1,000 acres in Muns- 
ter, and of £600, 1,000 acres in Leinster, according to English 
measure. And out of these lands was to be paid a yearly quit 
rent reserved to the crown, viz : One penny per acre in Ulster, 
three half pence in Connaught, two pence in Munster, and three 
pence in Leinster. 

In the year 1653 preparations were made to put this act into 
execution, and an ordinance was issued for the satisfaction of the 
adventurers and soldiers. By this decree the forfeited lands in 
the counties of Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford, in Munster ; 
King's and Queen's counties, East and West Meath, in Leins- 
ter; Down, Antrim and Armagh, in Ulster, together with the 
county of Louth, if necessary, except the barony of Atherdee, 
were to be charged with the money advanced by the adventurers 
and the arrears of pay due soldiers, also the lands beginning at 
one mile from the town of Sligo, and so winding upon the coast, 
not above four miles distant from the sea, which was called the 



138 History of Ireland, 

mile line, which line was intended to cut ofif the communication 
of the Irish with the sea. 

Commissioners of delinquency accordingly sat at Athlone to 
determine the qualifications of Papists, and on their decree 
other Commissioners who sat at Loughrea arranged the trans- 
plantation. Many of the Catholics did not take out their de- 
crees, and the removal was not completed at the restoration. 
Although the lands of the Catholics were seized by the Puritans 
they were by the act of settlement, on the restoration of Charles 
the Second, vested in the crown. 

The confiscation of the lands of the Catholics in Ireland thus 
made by Cromwell was nearly as complete as that of Canaan by 
the Iraelites. The Puritans believed they were, like the Israelites, 
the chosen people of God. These Cromwellians still held on to 
their ill-gotten store. They were for the most part men of low 
origin and mean education, but enthusiasm gave them a stern 
dignity. 

Taylor says, that the act which gave them the lands of the 
Irish was the most unparalleled public robbery recorded in any 
history, nobody can question. Few, however, felt any scruples. 
The sufferers were Papists, and they had been taught to look on 
them as idolaters, whose punishment was an acceptable service 
in the sight of heaven. There were some, however, whose con- 
sciences were not deluded by this blasphemous sophistry. Some 
of the soldiers restored their lots to the owners for a trifling sum, 
or generously bestowed it as a present. 

The land, however, seemed likely to be useless for want of 
cultivators. The Cromwellians had shown little mercy during 
the war and massacred the wretched peasantry by thousands f 
others they had sold as slaves to the planters of Virginia, and 
numbers, as we have already seen, had gone as soldiers to for- 
eign countries. The design of shutting up the miserable rem- 
nant of the Catholics in Connaught was now laid aside ; they 
were kept as slaves to the new proprietors, and treated as the 
Gibeonites had been by Joshua. The Cromwellians ruled their 
wretched serfs with a rod of iron ; they looked on them as an in- 
ferior species, a degraded caste with whom they could not feel 



History of Ireland. 139 

sympathy. The peasants were forbidden to leave their huts 
without permission, and strictly prohibited from assembling for 
religious worship, or for any other purpose. The Catholic clergy 
were ordered to quit the country under pain of death ; and it 
was made an offence, the penalty of which was death, to cele- 
brate Mass, or perform any of the ceremonies, or administer 
any of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. 

Still there were a faithful few who Hngered near their beloved 
congregations, and at the hazard of their lives, afforded to their 
flocks the consolations of religion. They exercised their minis- 
try in dens and caves ; in the fastnesses of the mountains and in 
deserted bogs. The Cromwellians learned that the abomina- 
tions of popery were yet continued in the land, and they em- 
ployed bloodhounds to track the haunts of these devoted men. 
During the latter part of the seventeenth and the beginning of 
eighteenth century priest hunting was a favorite field sport with 
the Puritans in Ireland. 

But common justice forbids us to dismiss the Cromwellian 
reign in this summary way, for we now behold Reformation the 
second, which the Puritans called ' ' a thorough Godly reforma- 
tion, " saying that reformation the first was but a half finished 
job, and that the Church of England, as by law established, was 
only a daughter of the "old whore of Babylon." This second 
reformation was just like the first; its main object was plunder. 
The remaining property of the church was now confiscated and 
shared among the reformers who, if they had had time, would have 
taken it all and shared it out again as they did part of it. It was 
really good to see these Puritans ousting from the abbey lands 
the descendants of those who got them in reformation the first. 
And it was particularly good to hear the bishops of the first 
reformation crying "sacrilege," when driven out of the places 
and churches which their predecessors had stolen from the 
Catholics, who held them expressly by magna charta. 

And to make the second reformation as much as possible like 
the first, the clergy were abused just as the Catholic clergy had 
been ; the bishops were shut out of Parliament as the Catholic 
bishops had been ; the Cathedrals and churches were again ran- 



140 History of Ireland. 

sacked ; Cranmer's tables put in place of the altars were knocked 
to pieces ; there was a general crusade against crosses, portraits 
of Christ, religious pictures, paintings on church windows, im- 
ages on the outsides of Cathedrals, tombs in the churches. As 
the Mass books had been destroyed in reformation number one, 
the book of common prayer was destroyed in reformation num- 
ber two, and a new book, called the "Directory," ordered to 
be used in its place, an imitation of Henry the Eighth's "Chris- 
tian Man" and Cranmer's prayer book. And why not this 
Directory ? If the Mass book of fifteen hundred years standing, 
and approved of by all the people, could be destroyed, surely 
the prayer book gotten up by Cranmer only a few years ago, and 
never approved by half the people, might also be destroyed. 

Now these two reformations had each a Cromwell ; the first 
was Thomas and the second Oliver. Thomas was appointed to 
assist Henry the Eighth to make a godly reformation of errors, 
heresies and abuses in the church, and the latter was self-com- 
missioned to make this thorough Godly reformation. The 
former Cromwell confiscated, pillaged and robbed the church 
and the poor, and just the same did the latter Cromwell. The 
latter died in his bed, while the former, when the tyrant who 
employed him needed his services no longer, died on a scaffold. 
Cromwell's reformers were great Bible readers, and almost every 
man became at times a preacher. The soldiers were uncom- 
monly gifted in this way, and they claimed a right to preach as 
one of the conditions upon which they enlisted to bear arms 
against the King. 

Everyone interpreted the Bible in his own way. They were 
all for the Bible, without note or comment. Roger North (a 
Protestant) in his examination of the horrors committed by the 
people, said : ' 'At Dover a woman cut off the head of her child, 
alleging that, like Abraham, she had a particular command from 
God. Another woman at York crucified her mother. These 
are only a specimen of these horrors." Cobbett, in his History 
of the Reformation, says : ' ' And why not these cruelties ? We 
read of killings in the Bible, and if everyone is to be his own inter- 
preter of that book, who is to say they shall act contrary to their 



History of Ireland. 141 

own interpretation ? And why not all these new and monstrous 
sects ? If there could be one new religion, one new creed made, 
why not a thousand ? What right had Luther to make a new 
religion, and then Calvin another new one, and Cranmer one 
differing from both these, and then Elizabeth mixed up all three 
and made one of her own. Were all these to make new reli- 
gions, and were the enlightened soldiers of Cromwell's army to 
be deprived of this right? The others all claimed as their 
authority the 'mspiration of the Holy Ghost. ' What, "says 
Cobbett, ' ' are Cromwell and his soldiers to be deprived of the 
right to claim the Holy Spirit ? Poor ' godly' fellows, why 
were they to be the only people in the world not qualified for 
chosing a religion for themselves, and also for those they had 
at the point of their bayonets !" In one respect, however, these 
new reformers differed from the old ones. They did indeed 
make a new religion, and commanded the people to follow it, 
and then inflicted punishment on the refractory, but these pun- 
ishments were light compared with those inflicted by Elizabeth 
in England. They forbade the use of the book of common 
prayer in all churches, and also in private families, but they pun- 
ished the disobedient with a fine, and did not hang them and 
rip out their bowels as the Church of England sovereigns had 
done with those who said or heard Mass. Bad as these fanatics 
were they never persecuted with a hundredth part of the cruelty 
that the Church of England had done, aye, and that it did again 
the moment it regained its power after the restoration of 

CHARLES THE SECOND, 

when it became more cruel to the Catholics than it had been 
in the days of Elizabeth, and that, too, notwithstanding that 
the Catholics of all ranks had during the war supported the royal 
cause. Cobbett writes thus: "Charles was suspected to be a 
Catholic in his heart, and his brother James, his presumptive 
heir, was an openly declared Catholic. Hence the reign of 
Charles was one unbroken scene of injustice, fraud and false 
swearing. There were plots charged to the Catholics, but really 
plots against them. The great fire in London occurred in this 



142 History of Ireland. 

reign, and the monument erected to commemorate this fire has 
on its base the following : ' This monument is erected in 
memory of the burning of this Protestant city by the Popish fac- 
tion, in September, A.D. 1666, for the destruction of the Prot- 
estant religion and liberty, and for the introduction of popery 
and slavery.' But the fury of the Papists is not yet satisfied." 
It is well known that this inscription was made by order of Sir 
Patience Ward, who, as Ehard shows, was afterwards convicted 
of perjury. Burnett says, "that one Hubert, a French Papist, 
confessed that he started the fire, but Higgins (a Protestant, 
mind,) proves that Hubert was a Protestant, and Rapin agrees 
with Higgins," Nobody knew better than the King the mon- 
strousness of this lie. But Charles was a lazy debauchee, unfeel- 
ing and ungrateful, as he had in fifty-two instances held his life 
at the mercy of Catholics (some of them very poor) while he was 
a wanderer, with large rewards held out for taking him and 
dreadful punishments for concealing him. This profligate King, 
whose ingratitude to his Irish subjects is without a parallel, had 
the meanness to suffer this lying inscription to stand. It was 
defaced by his brother James, but when the Dutchman, Wil- 
liam]of Orange, came, it was restored, and there it stands even to 
this day, and all the world, except the mere mob, know it to 
tell a most malignant lie. 

By conduct like this, by encouraging these fanatics, Charles 
prepared the way for the events by which his family were ex- 
cluded from the throne forever. To set aside his brother, who 
was an avowed Catholic, was their great object. This was a 
monstrous attempt, but, legally considered, what was it more 
than to prefer the illegitimate Elizabeth to the legitimate Mary 
Stuart ? What more was it than to enact that the children 
born of Elizabeth, whether legitimate or not, should be heir to 
the throne of England ? 

The great business of the Irish Parliament was an act for the 
settlement of the kingdom, which in the House of Commons was 
worded so as to exclude all the Irish, but the lords would not 
concur. They naturally sympathized with the ancient gentry, 



History of Ireland. 143 

and felt disgusted with the vulgarity of the Puritans, by whose 
presumption they were subjected to annoyance and insult. 

London became now the scene of intrigues by which the 
fate of Irish property was decided. The adventurers raised a 
large sum to bribe the English council, and the Irish House of 
Commons secured the services of Ormond by voting him a 
present of thirty thousand pounds. A stronger ground of hope 
was the favor of the English people, who were now more preju- 
diced than ever against the Irish and the Papists, by means of 
the many falsehoods the Cromwellians had uttered. The Eng- 
lish had at this time one of their No Popery fits, with which 
they have been afflicted periodi^cally ever since the pretended 
Reformation. The Irish had neither money nor friends, as all 
the lawmakers were bought up by the highest bidder. Ormond 
advised them to appeal to the King's mercy by promise of sub- 
mission. The Irish suspected Ormond's sincerity, and so far 
were perfectly right ; but they rejected his advice and spurned his 
assistance, in which they were decidedly wrong. The Irish 
rested their claims on right and justice, but in establishing Eng- 
lish interests in Ireland right and justice were unknown. 

Charles looked upon every concession made to the Irish as an 
act of favor, and gave offence to his privy council, most of whom 
were interested in the plunder. In the meantime the popular 
clamor against Papists was increased by every artifice that ava- 
rice could devise, and as the English were now laboring under 
one of their fits of No Popery, they were easily made the dupes 
of designing men. Tales the most absurd were invented and 
believed, calumnies not merely improbable but physically im- 
possible were readily believed. The lie refuted to-day, was sim- 
ply repeated to-morrow and generally credited ; again it was 
|)roved false, and again as regularly proclaimed as a fact. 

The King now saw he must dismiss the Irish claimants. He 
affected indignation to perfection. An order was made that no 
more petitions should be received from the Irish, and their agents 
were forbidden to appear in his Majesty's presence. A bill con- 
firming the title of the Cromwellians in their lands in Ireland 
was passed by the Irish Parliament and signed by the King. 



144 History of Ireland. 

The history of this transaction is not very intelHgible. It is 
difficult to discover the reason why Charles should sanction this 
robbery of those who had been faithful to him, in order to reward 
those fanatics who had murdered his father and driven himself 
into exile. The dread of another civil war, from the fanatical 
hatred of the Catholic religion by the people of England, will 
scarcely account for the readiness with which he consented to 
the robbery, though it certainly had some real weight. But 
indolence, and an anxiety to put an end to perplexing contests, 
was probably the cause. Burnett, and other Protestant histo- 
rians, assign as a cause and the justification of the King's rob- 
bery and ingratitude that, being a Protestant King, he could not 
trust Catholic subjects, and no doubt some believed so. But 
unfortunately for this reasoning, Charles was at heart a Catholic 
himself. Macauley, with all his malice against the Catholic 
Church, admits that Father Huddlestone administered the sacra- 
ment to Charles, and that it was proved beyond dispute that the 
King was perfectly sensible at the time. 

We do not possess any reliable records of the early part of 
this reign, and the private documents that have been collected 
are so filled with notorious falsehoods that we can not place con- 
fidence in a single statement that they contain. The commis- 
sioners appointed to consider the qualifications of innocence in 
Ireland were all Englishmen. They had been carefully selected 
on account of their attachment to the cause of Protestantism, 
but they acted with more impartiality than the government 
either expected or desired. Rigorous as the qualifications of 
innocency had been made, in the first month of trials thirty- 
eight were pronounced innocent, and seven guilty; in the sec- 
ond, seven were found guilty and fifty-three acquitted ; in the 
third, seventy-seven were found innocent, and only five were 
condemned. This was a result which nobody anticipated. Or- 
mond, who had devised the whole plan of the qualifications and 
commission, was confounded. The Cromwellians, fearing that 
their plunder was about to be wrested from their hands, determ- 
ined to take up arms. A committee of officers who had served 
under Cromwell met to organize a general insurrection, and laid 



History of Ireland. 145 

plans to seize the Castle of Dublin. The House of Commons 
was in a violent rage at the probability of seeing justice done to 
the Papists. They presented an address to the Lord-Lieutenant, 
asking him to make the qualifications of the Papists more rig- 
orous, and suggesting such alterations as would have involved 
the whole Catholic party in one sweeping condemnation. The 
whole House, with Mervyn the Speaker at their head, went in a 
body to present it, and Mervyn on presenting it made an inflated 
speech full of dark hints and warnings. The address was re- 
ceived coldly by Ormond, who gave a very unsatisfactory 
reply. Mervyn resolved to appeal to the fanatics, and printed 
his speech, but it was not suited to the temper of the times, as 
the periodical spell of No Popery did not affect the English peo- 
ple at that time. The Commons, all Puritans, finding that their 
directions had not been adopted, passed a resolution declaring 
that the Commissioners, by restoring the land to Papists, were 
unjust to Protestants, though they and all the World knew their 
right to these lands was the right of the strongest. 

Ormond feared that the Puritans would destroy their own in- 
terests, and determined to save them in spite of themselves. 
He promptly arrested the principal leaders, and offered a reward 
for the apprehension of those who had escaped. But he did not 
venture to proceed with much rigor against Protestant rebels ; a 
few were punished, the rest received the King's pardon. The 
firmness of Ormond saved the Puritan faction in the House 
of Commons. They withdrew the obnoxious resolution, but at 
the same time sent up an address representing the danger and 
sin of tolerating popery, and requesting that a proclamation 
should be issued banishing all the popish clergy from the king- 
dom. 

No less than four thousand claims were entered for trial before 
the Commissioners, and from the number that had already estab- 
lished their innocency there was reason to dread that the Cath- 
olic proprietors would recover a large portion of their estates. 
This was evaded by a new contrivance. The time for the sit- 
ting of the commission was limited to a certain number of days, 
during which only about one-fourth of the claims eould possibly 



146 History of Ireland. WK^ 

be heard. The court then closed and was never opened after- 
wards. About three thousand of the most ancient and respect- 
able Irish families were thus stripped of all their properties, 
without even the form of a trial, without even the privilege not 
refused to the meanest criminal, that of being heard in his own 
defence. They made application to the King for redress, but 
Charles, in compliance with the advice of his council, refused to 
pay the slightest regard to their petitions. Of course they were 
finally and hopelessly ruined, and Cromwell's robbers left in 
quiet possession of their lands and property. The only conces- 
sion made to the Catholics was that Ormond was permitted to 
nominate twenty out of the three thousand whose claims had 
not been heard, to be restored to their estates as a special favor, 
and even this was so distasteful to those who made Protestant- 
ism a cloak for knavery, that Ormond did not venture to present 
the bill till he had procured the removal of some of the most 
violent of the Puritan psalm-singers. 

By the act of explanation it was provided that all lands vested 
in the King by the act of Parliament should be freed and dis- 
charged from all conveyances made before the 23d of October, 
1 64 1, by any tenant ; persons not therefore adjudged innocent 
were forever debarred from any claim ; the adventurers and 
soldiers to be confirmed within two months ; no adventurer, 
soldier, or Protestant claiming in Connaught or Clare before the 
1st of September, 1663, in possession of lands restorable, to 
be removed until he should have as much other forfeited land 
set out to him ; all deficient adventurers to be satisfied with lands 
in the same county; Protestant officers serving before 1641 
confirmed in lands not already decreed away by the Commis- 
sioners. If a case of doubt or defect occurred in the act, the 
Commissioners might within two years after their sitting ac- 
quaint the Lord-Lieutenant and council therewith, and such 
order of amendment or explanation as they should make in 
writing writhin the said two years, and enrolled in chancery, 
should be as effectual as if it were part of the act. 

In pursuance of this last clause, the Commissioners proposed 
certain doubts to the Lord-Lieutenant and council, and an ex- 



History of Ireland. 147 

planatory order was issued which may be considered part of the 
act. It declared that all estates which, on the 23d of October, 
1 64 1, or at any time since, belonged to any Irish Papist, or had 
been returned by the Down survey as owned by any Irish 
Papist at any time after the 23rd of October, 1641, were 
vested in the King upon account of rebellion, except such 
estates as had been decreed to innocents, and belonged to them 
on the 22d of October, 1641. It was finally agreed that all 
adventurers and soldiers should hold in fee simple such lands as 
should be certified to belong to them. 

Such were the Acts of Settlement and Explanation, called by 
Mervyn the Magna Charta of Irish Protestants. But what were 
they to the Catholics ? What to the Irish people ? At least 
two-thirds of the entire country changed owners by this whole- 
sale system of robbery. 

The new proprietors felt conscious that their claims were not 
founded in justice, and were tormented with a sense of insecur- 
ity. They looked upon the native Irish as their natural enemies, 
and feared every hour some new attempt for the recovery of their 
estates. This dread exists even to this day. The writer well 
remembers that in 1829, when Catholic emancipation was dis- 
cussed in the British Parliament, the strongest argument against 
it by the Puritan bigots was that the Catholics when in power 
would claim the restoration of their property. The guilt of the 
Stuarts in thus abandoning to ruin innocent men, to whom they 
were bound by every tie of honor and gratitude, did not go 
unpunished. James the Second suffered for the crimes of Charles 
the Second, and no doubt Charles the First suffered for the 
wrong done by his father. 

The conduct of Ormond in these transactions has been the 
theme of unmeasured praise and equally unmeasured censure. 
If for the sake of establishing a Protestant interest in Ireland 
it was lawful and even praiseworthy to commit treachery, fraud 
and universal robbery, then we may join in all the praise that 
has been heaped upon him by Protestant historians. But if the 
best ends cannot sanctify the worst means ; if Mammon and 
Moloch be unworthy allies of the cause of true religion, then we 



148 History of Ireland. 

must condemn him as one who was guilty of atrocious evil to 
effect a doubtful good. The simple fact that before the war his 
income was but seven thousand pounds per annum, but after 
the final settlement his yearly income was over eighty thousand 
pounds, more than ten times the former amount. He felt to the 
last hours of his life a consciousness that the part he had acted 
would not bear examination. There was a time, even in the life 
of the writer, when it would have been unsa:fe to detail these 
facts, and it is doubtful if the truth dare be told in either Eng- 
land or Scotland to-day. And had the red-coats and Hessians 
sent here by King George succeeded in overcoming Washing- 
ton and his noble army, it is certain it dare not be told in 
America to-day. 

A, D. 1666. The attention of the English Parliament at this 
time was called to the amazing fall in rents, and all the ingenuity 
of the period was employed to account for the cause. The 
solution arrived at was so ludicrous that it is scarcely possible to 
believe the authors serious. They averred that the cause of the 
English distress was the importation of lean cattle from Ireland! 
And yet this laughable decision was received with universal ap- 
plause. The English with one accord denounced Irish cattle as 
the cause of all their miseries. Petitions to prevent the intro- 
duction of the obnoxious animals were presented in countless 
numbers, and at length a bill was introduced into the House of 
Commons prohibiting perpetually the importation of Irish cat- 
tle, dead or alive, fat or lean, great or small. 

The long civil war, the voluntary exile of the gentry, who had 
taken with them all their movable property, and the prohibition 
of all foreign trade, had reduced Ireland to a miserable condi- 
tion. She had no commerce, no manufactures, cattle and wool 
were her only exports, and the exclusion of her cattle from the 
English market threatened absolute ruin. The great fire in 
London for a short time absorbed attention. But the excite- 
ment about Irish cattle survived the flames, and even gained 
strength from the conflagration. When the news of the calam- 
ity reached Ireland, the Irish determined to raise a contribu- 
tion for the relief of the sufferers, and as they had neither sil- 



History of Ireland, 149 

ver nor gold they generously sent them a present of cattle. 
The vision of Pharaoh's lean kine was not interpreted to por- 
tend a more fearful visitation than this donation. It was repre- 
sented as an attempt to evade the prohibition under the pretext 
of benevolence, and a universal clamor was raised throughout 
the kingdom. The King had the good sense to know there 
was not the slightest connection between the public'distressand 
Irish cows. He declared himself opposed to the bill, and as- 
serted that it should never receive his assent. 

The Commons cared little for the King's opposition. The 
exchequer was empty, which left the King at the mercy of the 
Parliament. A bill declaring that the importation of Irish cat- 
tle was a nuisance passed the Commons with wondrous unan- 
imity, and was sent up to the Lords. Their lordships, instead 
of the word "nuisance," used the words "a detriment and a 
mischief." The Commons refused to accept the amendment, 
and an angry conference in which neither party seemed disposed 
to yield took place. The debates in the Lords were conducted 
with disgraceful heat and violence, but at the same time with 
childish folly. Arlington insisted that the importation of Irish 
cattle should be declared ' ' a nuisance. ' ' Lord Ashley proposed 
that it should be called " a felony. " Clarendon, with more wit, 
and as much reason, suggested that it should be deemed "adul- 
tery." The Duke of Buckingham said that none opposed the 
bill but those who held stolen Irish estates. Ossory, Ormond's 
eldest son, was roused by this insult (he and his father holding 
dishonestly large estates in Ireland), and sent a challenge to the 
Duke. But Buckingham dreaded Irish courage as much as he 
despised the robbers of the Irish. He declined to accept the 
challenge, but made his complaint to the House and Ossory was 
sent to the Tower. Ashley declaimed with violence against the 
robbers of the Irish and all who had profited by doing so. 
Ossory retorted that such virulence became none but one of 
Cromwell's robbers. At length the King, finding that the Com- 
mons would refuse to vote him supplies, requested his friends 
to give up any further opposition to the bill, which was finally 
passed with the "nuisance " clause. In giving his assent, how- 



150 History of Ireland. 

ever, Charles complained bitterly of the harsh treatment he had 
received by the Parliament, and to compensate the Irish for the 
loss of their trade, he issued a proclamation permitting them to 
hold commercial intercourse with every country, whether at war 
or peace with his Majesty. 

Ormond zealously exerted himself to avert the evils which 
the cruel jealousy of England threatened to inflict on the coun- 
try he governed. He determined to establish manufactures in 
Ireland, and for this purpose brought over from the continent 
skilful workmen, whom he planted on his estates at Clonmel 
and Carrick-on-Suir, and at Chapelizod in the county of Dublin. 
He procured an act of Parliament for the encouragement of the 
linen manufacture, and labored with success to improve the cul- 
tivation of flax. But he was stopped in the midst of his career 
by the intrigues of his enemies in England, aided by some of 
the usurpers in Ireland who were jealous of his power. Of 
these the most formidable was Lord Broghill, who has already 
filled considerable space in this history. His intrigues, though 
conducted with secrecy, became known to Ormond, and when 
Broghill departed for England Ormond appointed his son his 
deputy, and followed him thither in order to watch and coun- 
teract his opposition. 

In the meantime, Arlington informed Ormond that his Majesty 
had resolved to remove him from office and had given the place 
to Lord Roberts. The new governor's rule was short, he dis- 
pleased all parties by his stubbornness and incapacity. He was 
removed and Lord Berkley appointed in his stead. Berkley's 
administration filled the Protestants with alarm. He permitted 
the Catholic bishops to exercise their functions in public ; he 
granted commissions of the peace to several of the Catholic 
gentry, and admitted some into corporations. Complaints were 
made, both in Ireland and England, that the government did 
not uphold the Protestant ascendancy, as the monopoly of place, 
power and profit was called, and as Protestantism and injustice 
were peas from the same pod in Ireland, tales of plots and 
threatened massacres were revived and eagerly spread by those 
who were interested in the spread of what was called the dan- 



History of Ireland. 151 

gers of popery, and the maintenance of Protestant ascend- 
ancy. 

But the Puritans had even greater cause for alarm. The 
Cathohcs, through their agent, complained of frauds that had 
been practiced on those of their religion, and obtained from 
the King commissioners of inquiry. The Puritans, afraid they 
would lose some of their ill-gotten store, appealed to the people 
of England against this act of justice, and the appeal was 
answered by people and Parliament with a force that justice was 
unable to resist. Lord Berkley was recalled from the govern- 
ment of Ireland and the commission of inquiry was suspended. 

The Earl of Essex was appointed Governor of Ireland, but 
soon, wearied and disgusted, asked leave to resign, and was 
succeeded by Ormond. This appointment gave rise to much 
speculation, for Ormond had been long under a cloud, and had 
been treated with coldness ever since his removal from office. 
But in truth the King had no choice. The Puritans would not 
suffer him to send an honest governor to Ireland, and Ormond 
had sufficient influence with the leaders to restrain their excesses. 
Ormond had not long returned to the government when he re- 
ceived from England intelligence of a plot. Ormond had too 
much experience in getting up plots himself, not to see at once 
the nature of these pretended discoveries made by 

TITUS GATES. 

But he knew also the danger of discrediting these deluded and 
fanatical Puritans, and he pretended an alarm which he did not 
feel. It is impossible to discover the author of that absurdity 
called the Popish Plot. The disgraceful scenes that followed, 
and the monstrous tales told by Oates, Bedloe, Dangerfield, and 
the other herd of informers, full of inconsistencies, improb- 
abilities, contradictions and even physical impossibilities — every 
Englishman must wish that the pages recording these scenes of 
injustice and disgrace could be blotted forever from the history 
of his country. But it is best they should remain to show the 
effects of zeal without knowledge, and of prejudice worked upon 
by the unprincipled and the designing in a land that lays claim 



152 History of Ireland. 

to civilization and the religion of the God of love and mercy. 
The contrivers of the plot saw that its truth would be ques- 
tioned if no mention of Ireland was made ; for if such horrors 
as they described were gotten up for England, where the number 
of Catholics was inconsiderable, what was to be expected in 
Ireland where they formed the great bulk of the population. 
Unfortunately for the plotters, however, they were unacquainted 
in Ireland, and proceeding by guess they made blunders, though 
they meant well as Puritans. They made oath that the leaders 
of the Irish popish plot were Peter Talbot, the Archbishop of 
Dublin; Lord Mountgarrett and Colonel Peppard. Orders were 
sent over by the English council to arrest these traitors. Or- 
mond proceeded to obey these commands. He found Talbot in 
the last stages of a fatal disease, and Lord Mountgarrett bed- 
ridden from old age, and of course arrested both without diffi- 
culty ; but Colonel Peppard could nowhere be found, for the 
simple reason that no such person had ever been in existence. 
Their next guess was equally unfortunate. They assured Or- 
mond that a vessel laden with arms and ammunition was on her 
way to Waterford. Orders to have the vessel seized and strictly 
searched were issued. She arrived in due time, but lo ! she was 
laden with salt. Ormond now issued two proclamations, which 
for' their severity and injustice ought to have satisfied the fiercest 
Puritan. The first was that the priest of any place where a 
Protestant was disturbed in his possessions, or any murder com- 
mitted, should be sent to prison, and thence transported, unless 
within fourteen days the guilty party was either killed or taken 
prisoner. The second forbade the Catholics to enter the Castle 
of Dublin, or any other fort, without special permission from 
the authorities, and ordered that fairs and markets should be 
held outside cities and corporate towns, and ordered that the 
Papists should attend them unarmed. Still the Puritans and 
robbers were not satisfied. They requested Ormond to arrest all 
the nobility and gentry who were Catholics, and also to banish 
the Catholic inhabitants from every city and walled town. 
Ormond knew the meaning of these hints. The Puritans wished 
to goad the Irish into rebellion, and thus afford a pretext for 



History of Ireland. 153 

more confiscation, as the Catholics had still some property left, 
and also to confirm the plot, as its credit was shaken by the tran- 
quillity of Ireland. But Ormond with all his faults was unwill- 
ing to aid those Puritan hypocrites, and, besides, was too proud 
to be the instrument of others guilt. He pursued a moderate 
course, and Ireland, to the sore annoyance of the bigots, re- 
mained without the semblance of rebellion. The conduct of 
Ormond was severely censured in many of the pamphlets writ- 
ten in England at the time, and Shaftsbury ventured to repeat 
them in the House of Lords. But Ossory, speaking in his 
father's defence, made such an exposure of Shaftsbury's charac- 
ter, which was not well calculated to bear a rigid examination, 
as effectually silenced him in the future. 

But an Irish victim was necessary to the contrivers of the plot, 
and they finally selected 

OLIVER PLUNKETT, CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH. 

He was dragged over to England and tried for a crime alleged to 
have been committed in Ireland. The grand jury on the first 
occasion threw out the bill against the Bishop, but the informers 
brought forward more false witnesses and succeeded better in 
the second attack. The accused was refused time to bring over 
from Ireland witnesses for his defence, and he himself pointed 
out to the jury the inconsistencies and improbabilities of the 
evidence against him, which were indeed sufficiently glaring. 
But in these evil days innocence was a feeble defence where wit- 
nesses were ready to swear anything, and both judge and jury 
equally ready to believe them. The Bishop was found guilty 
and executed. In his last moments he declared his innocence 
in the most solemn manner, and added that if he acknowledged 
the charges made against him, no one in Ireland acquainted with 
the circumstances would believe his dying words. 

The House of Commons tried to avert the effect of the Bish- 
op's declaration and voted there was a plot in Ireland. But as 
they were unable to show any evidence of its existence, they 
only hastened the recovery of the people from their delusion. 
These fanatics were not content with the blood of the Arch- 



154 History of Ireland. 

bishop. On the day of his execution one of their preachers 
disturbed his last moments by exhorting him to embrace what 
he called the religion of the gospel. No doubt this fanatical 
preacher believed his was the religion of Christ, though he must 
have known that it was upheld in Ireland by robbery and murder. 
A. D. 1 68 1. The tide of popular frenzy began now to turn, the 
fury against the Catholics had passed away exhausted by its 
own violence. The dying declarations of innocence made by 
all the victims began at length to have effect, and when the ven- 
erable Earl of Stafford, the last who was murdered on account 
of this plot, declared on the scaffold his total ignorance of it, 
the multitude responded with tears, "We believe you, my 
lord." The King no longer feared the fanatics when he saw 
them deserted by the people, and put an end to their power by 
dissolving the Parliament. 



CHAPTER V. 



Death of Charles the Second — Mis Brother James Prochimed King, 
whose Principles of G-eneral Toleration Work Eis Ruin. 



fHE change that now took place is full of instruction. The 
whole herd of spies and informers turned on their former 
employers, and Charles made good use of the instruments his 
enemies had provided. Russell and Sydney perished on the 
scaffold by the same abominable arts they had used for the mur- 
der of the Catholics. Shaftsbury, the great patron of the 
popish plot, only escaped the gallows by flight, and died in exile 
unpitied. The Protestants in Ireland were now in doubt and 
uncertainty. They suspected that Charles meant to restore the 
Irish Catholics to their property, and they trembled for their 
ill-gotten store. Taylor says : ' ' Their hearts sank within them. 
They were no more the compact, warlike body which had been 
able to dictate its own terms at the Restoration." Before these 
Puritans could be cleared out of Ireland Charles died, and the 
accession of his brother, James the Second, opened a new scene. 
Macauley says the funeral of Charles called forth much cen- 
sure. The Whigs sneered at it, and the Covenanters of Scot- 
land said excitingly that the curse denounced of old against 
wicked Kings had been signally fulfilled, and that the departed 
King had been buried with the burial of an ass. These Cove- 
nanters at the Restoration had forced Charles to sign the 
Covenant, the object of which was the annihilation ^of popery 



156 History of Ireland. 

and the suspicion that the King meant to do justice to the 
Catholics called forth all their malice. 

We cannot find in history the example of a King so generous 
to infamous rebels as Charles had been to the Cromwellians of 
Ireland. But so far from their gratitude being equal to his good- 
ness they were continually plotting against him. It is incredible 
to think how the King was influenced by his Ministers to act 
contrary, not only to justice, but even to the interests of his 
house. To heap upon his enemies the property of his faithful 
subjects is unexampled in history. Charles seems to have acted 
on the advice of Clarendon, his Prime Minister, which was, "Do 
good to your enemies, your friends will not injure you." 

MacGeoghegan says it appears that Charles dared not to die 
in that religion which he professed while on the throne. He 
showed great indifference to the bishops of the Church of Eng- 
land who surrounded his death-bed with their exhortations. He 
requested that a priest should be sent him, from whom he re- 
ceived the sacrament according to the rites of the Catholic 
Church. As soon as Charles breathed his last his brother, the 
Duke of York, received the homage of the lords. He was pro- 
claimed King in London and all the provinces under the name of 

JAMES THE SECOND. 

Public rejoicings were made in all the towns, in which inclina- 
tion and duty seemed to combine. The news having reached Ire- 
land, Ormond, who was Governor, convened his council in Dub- 
lin, and the day following James was proclaimed with great solem- 
nity in the city. The new sovereign convened his council in 
England. He made a speech to them, which was well received 
and increased their attachment to his person. 

"I will endeavor," he said, "to preserve the government in 
church and state in the manner by law established. I know that 
the Church of England is favorable to monarchy, and its members 
have shown on many occasions that they are faithful subjects ; I 
will take care to defend and support it. I know, likewise, that 
the laws of the kingdom are sufficient to make the King as great 
as J could wish. A.§ I am determined to preserve the preroga- 



Tfhforn of Irehdul 157 

tives of the crown, so I will never deprive others of what belongs 
to them. I have often hazarded my life in defence of the na- 
tion; I am still ready to expose it to preserve its rights. " 

This address of the King was well received, and considered 
noble and sublime. Soon after this addresses poured in from 
every quarter filled with assurances of loyalty and gratitude. 
Cities, corporations and universities were lavishing in their praises 
and congratulations. The Parhaments of both England and 
Scotland met at this time. The Scotch voted sixty thousand 
pounds sterling a year for life to his Majesty ; England vied with 
Scotland in generosity. The Parliament voted the King during 
life the revenues of his brother at his death, together with the 
funds which were allowed him while Duke of York. 

It was moved and seconded to take down the names of those 
who had voted in the reign of his brother to exclude him from 
the throne on account of his being a Catholic, but one of the 
secretaries declared that the King pardoned all who had opposed 
him. The declaration was received Avith applause. The Parlia- 
ment renewed the trial of Titus Oates, who had done tall swear- 
ing during the popish plot. He was now brought to justice on 
a charge of perjury, and never was a wretch more clearly con- 
victed. He was condemned to pay a fine, to be flogged, to have 
his ears cut off, and to be imprisoned for life. This auspicious 
beginning seemed to promise the King a happy reign. During 
the first six months he reigned in the hearts of his people, but 
the aspect of his affairs weie soon sadly changed. 

James was a Catholic and wished to protect that religion. His 
zeal for religion was contrary to his worldly policy, but his real 
imprudence was the confidence he placed in some members of 
his council, who secretly betrayed him. James had two objects 
in view: first, to grant Catholics freedom to exercise their reli- 
gion ; and, secondly, to enable them to hold public offices from 
which they were unjustly excluded. The Protestants became 
alarmed, as nearly all the leaders held property unjustly taken 
either from individual Catholics or from the church. Therefore, 
every .step the King took in favor of his own religion was con- 
sidered by these political Protestants as the destruction of their 



158 History of Ireland. 

own. Clarendon, the King's brother-in-law, was recalled from 
the government of Ireland, and in February, 1686, 

RICHARD TALBOTT, 

who was a Catholic, and already a Lieutenant-General, was ap- 
pointed Governor of Ireland. 

The Catholic religion began to be openly professed. The clergy 
appeared in public in the dress of their different orders; the 
ancient proprietors took possession of their estates which had 
been usurped by the Puritan soldiers, and Catholics as well as 
Protestants were appointed to public offices. 

Cobbett, in his History of the Reformation, says: "James 
was sober, frugal in his expenses, economical in public mat- 
ters, but he was weak and obstinate, and he was a Catholic, and 
his sincerity made him no match for his artful and interested 
foes." If the existence of a few priests in the country was so 
dangerous to the safety of the law church, what was to be its fate 
if a Catholic King continued to sit on the throne. It was easy 
to see that by degrees Catholic clergy would again occupy the 
parsonages and the bishops' palaces, especially as the King was 
as zealous as he was sincere. The Reformation had made con- 
sciences of so pliant a nature, men had changed under it back- 
ward and forward so many times that this filling of the church 
with Catholic priests and bishops would, perhaps, amongst the 
people in general, and particularly amongst the higher classes, 
have produced but little alarm. But not so with the clergy, who 
soon saw their danger, and who, lazy and worthless as they were, 
lost no time in preparing to avert it. James acted as far as the law 
would let him, and as far as prerogative would enable him to go 
beyond the law, on principles of general toleration of all creeds. 
By this he obtained the support of the Sectaries. But the 
church had got the good things, and it resolved, if possible, to 
keep them. Besides this, though the abbey land and the rest 
of the property of the church and the poor had been a good 
while in their possession, still able lawyers, having their opinions 
backed by a well organized army, might pick a flaw in the grants 
made to them by Henry, Edward and Elizabeth. Be their 



TRsfori/ of Treland. 159 

thoughts what they might, certain it is that all those who were 
conspicuous in the revolution which took place soon after, and 
which drove James from the throne, were among those whose 
ancestors had been bribed to become Protestants by sharing in 
the lands which Henry, Edward and Elizabeth had stolen from 
the church and the poor. 

With motives so powerful against him, the King ought to have 
been very prudent and wary. He was just the contrary. As to 
the conduct of the Catholics, prudence and moderation were not 
to be expected from them. Look at the fines, the burning irons, 
the racks, the gibbets, and the ripping knives of the late reigns, 
and say if it were not both natural and just that their joy should 
be without bounds. But their time of rejoicing was short, for a 
plan for compelling the King to give up his tolerating projects 
was already on foot, by which 

WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE, 

was invited to come over with a Dutch army to assist them to hold 
on to their ill-gotten store. William landed in England without 
any opposition, and having marched from Torbayto London, by 
the perfidy of the English army entered the King's palace and 
drove out the English guards. The King knowing the same 
fanatical spirit had beheaded his father, and not wishing to have 
them perform the same operation on himself, fled from his pal- 
ace and his kingdom and took refuge in France. 

The stage being now clear for the actors in this affair, we have 
now to see how they went to work, and in due time we will also 
see how effectually they finished it. Macauley, (after writing 
over one hundred and fifty pages to prove James both a Papist 
and a tyrant, and that he unlawfully permitted his Catholic sub- 
jects to build churches in which to worship God), tells us that on 
the last day of June the decisive step was taken. A formal invita- 
tion was dispatched to the Hague requesting William to come 
with his army to England. This paper was signed in cypher, mind, 
by Shrewsbury, Devonshire, Danby, Lumley, Compton, Russell 
and Sydney. Herbert undertook to be the messenger. Now we 
have no means of knowing what passed between Herbert and 



160 History of Ireland. 

William. But let us suppose these were the words: The Lords 
whose names are affixed to this paper are owners of much prop- 
erty in England, which the Catholics claim was stolen from them 
and from their church. Now if you will come over to England 
with an army, and will protect them in holding on to this prop- 
erty, they on their part pledge themselves to assist you in steal- 
ing the crown of Great Britain and Ireland. These are perhaps 
not the words, but is surely the substance of what passed between 

HERBERT AND WILLIAM. 

William was one of those petty German princes, whose only 
inheritance is pride and poverty. He had married the daughter of 
James, and it is said that she entered heartily into the project of 
her husband, viz : of robbing her father and brother. It is 
really amusing to read the efforts that Macauley makes to justify 
this robbery, which he calls a revolution. 

Burnett has also labored hard to justify it. But Burnett was a 
party to and a sharer in the spoils, and therefore not a compe- 
tent witness. Froude has also attempted to justify it, but his 
falsehoods are so notorious he is beneath contempt. English 
historians hold that this revolution, as it is called, was a neces- 
sity in upholding the Protestant religion. Now it is really cruel 
to lay this upon Protestantism, especially as it was carrying a 
heavy load of the same already. 

Cobbett says the Lord Mayor of London and a few others, 
without any authority, gave the crown to William and his wife 
and their posterity forever ; made new oaths of allegiance for the 
people to swear ; enabled the new King to imprison at pleasure 
all he might suspect ; banished to ten miles from London all Pa- 
pists or reputed Papists, and disarmed them all over the king- 
dom, and gave the property of Papists to the Universities ; grant- 
ed to the new King an unlimited amount of taxes ; declared 
themselves to be the Parliament as legally as if elected by the 
people ; and this they called a glorious revolution, and it is so 
called by Protestants to this day, though it is well known to the 
readers of history that it was the work of those who unjustly held 
the abbey lands and other property taken from the Catholics 



History of Ireland. 161 

during Henry's Reformation. We shall in due time see some- 
thing of the cost of this revolution, founded upon the principle 
that the Catholic religion was opposed to public freedom and 
justice. Let us see what things this Catholic King had really 
done, and in what degree they were worse than things that had 
been and are still being done under sovereigns who are Protest- 
ants. As William and his Dutch army were called by the Prot- 
estants their deliverers, let us see what it really was after all that 
they delivered the people from ; and here, happily, we have the 
statute-book to refer to in which there still stands the list of 
charges drawn up against this Catholic King. However, before 
we examine these charges we ought, in common justice, to no- 
tice certain things that James did not do. He did not, as Ed- 
ward the Sixth had done, bring German troops into the country 
to enforce a change in the religion ; nor did he, like that young 
reformer, burn his starving subjects with a hot iron on the fore- 
head as a punishment for begging. He did not, as that pious 
Protestant Elizabeth had done, use whips, burning irons, racks, 
gibbets and ripping-knives to convert people to his creed ; nor 
did he impose any fines for this purpose, but, on the contrary, 
put as far as he could an end to all persecution on account of 
rehgion. And with this he is charged as one of his crimes. Yes, 
among the proofs that even Macauley gives of his being a deter- 
mined and intolerant popish tyrant, was his granting liberty of 
conscience to all creeds. These were the things James, no doubt 
from Catholic bigotry, did not do. And now let us come to 
the things which he really did, or at least which he was charged 
with having done. 

Indictments do not generally come after judgment and execu- 
tion ; but for some cause or other the charges against James were 
made the year after the crown had been given to the Dutchman 
and his wife. No matter, they came out at last. We will take 
them one by one, bearing in mind that they contained all that 
could be contrived or said against this popish King. 

Charge first, that he assumed and exercised a power of dis. 
pensing with and suspending laws, and the execution of laws, 
without the consent of Parliament. That is to say, he did not 



162 Historii of Ireland. 

enforce those cruel laws against conscientious Catholics which 
had been enacted in former reigns. 

Charge second, that he imprisoned worthy bishops who op- 
posed these assumed powers. Now these worthies, as they are 
called, when tried by the test, "Whatsoever things ye would 
that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them," will be 
found very unworthy indeed. At the very time they so violently 
opposed the toleration the King had granted to the Catholics, 
they had authorized the Dutchman and his wife to banish all 
Catholics or reputed Papists ten miles from London and dis- 
armed them all over the kingdom ; gave the property of Papists to 
the Universities, and authorized the new King to imprison, at 
pleasure, without trial, all whom he might suspect. 

Charge third, that he issued a commission for trying ecclesias- 
tical causes. That is to say, if bishops transgressed the law they 
should be tried, and if found guilty punished like other persons 
The reader will remember Bishop Fisher in the days of Henry 
the Eighth, and Archbishop Plunkett at the time of the popish 
plot. 

Charge fourth, that he levied money for the use of the crown 
at other times than was granted by Parliament. It is not pre- 
tended that he levied more than was granted, but that he was 
not exact as to time. Verily these were lame charges ! No won- 
der that Macauley and Burnett had such laborious work trying 
to prove James a tyrant. 

Charge fifth, that he kept a standing army in time of peace 
without consent of Parliament. That was very wicked. There 
were only seven thousand men to be sure, and such a thing as a 
barrack had never been heard of. But James knew that his father 
had been dethroned, and his head cut off, by an army kept 
without the consent of Parliament. 

Charge sixth, that he caused several good subjects being Prot- 
estants, to be disarmed at the same time that Papists were both 
armed and employed contrary to law. Those hypocrites knew 
well, when making this charge, that they themselves, with the 
aid of the Dutchman's soldiers, had disarmed not only several 
but all the Catholics in the three kingdoms. 



History of Ireland. 163 

Charge seventh, that he violated the freedom of elections of 
members of Parliament. Oh, monstrous ! Protestant reader, 
do you think this violating the freedom of elections for members 
of Parliament was a crime committed only by James, and a proof 
of the wicked spirit of popery, as you have been told by Protest- 
ant historians ? If you do, listen to the facts which truth and 
justice require to be told, and which I will state as briefly as I 
possibly can. 

It is doubtful if there has been an election in either England 
or Ireland for the last two hundred years where the people were 
free from government influence — certain there was none in Ire- 
land. On the nth of May, 1809, William Maddox, in the 
House of Commons, made the following charge : "I affirm that 
Mr. Dick purchased a seat in this House for the Borough of 
Cashel, through the agency of the Honorable Henry Woolsey, 
who acted on behalf of the Treasury ; that upon a division of the 
House, Mr. Dick having voted according to his convictions. 
Lord Castlereagh intimated to that gentleman the necessity of 
either voting with the government, or resigning his seat in the 
House ; and that Mr. Dick, sooner than vote against his princi- 
ples, did vacate his seat accordingly." Maddox further says, "I 
charge the right honorable gentleman, Mr. Percival, as being 
privy and having connived at it. ' ' This, " he says, ' ' I engage to 
prove at the bar if the House will give me leave to call witness- 
es." Having made this charge, Mr. Maddox made a motion for 
inquiry into the matter ; after much debate the question was put 
to a vote. There were three hundred and ninety-five members 
in the House, all Protestants, mind. Come forth and hear your 
accusers of James and the Catholic religion ! There were eighty- 
five for inquiry, and three hundred and ten against it. This 
same Parliament, in 18 19, passed a law by which any person 
could be banished for life for writing or publishing anything hav- 
ing a tendency to bring that very House into contempt. 

Charge eighth, that he tried cases in the court of King's 
Bench cognizable only in Parliament, and that he did divers 
other arbitrary and unlawful things. That is to say, he brought 
before a jury matters which the Parliament wished to keep to 



164 Hhtorfi of Trehnid. 

itself. Surely this was the act of a tyrant, to try these gentry by 
jury instead of leaving them to try themselves ! As to the other 
divers things, they not being specified, we will suppose they 
were put in to fill up the line. 

Charge ninth, that he caused juries to be composed of persons 
not qualified. Perhaps he did. But did not EHzabeth dispense 
with juries altogether when she pleased, and tried all cases by 
martial law ? And in Ireland to the present day trial by jury is 
but a mockery. 

There are three other charges made against James, viz : ex- 
cessive bail, excessive fines, exacting fines before the trial of the 
parties. Now these three charges, when we consider the veracity 
of those Avho make them, must be taken for what they, with- 
out proof, are worth. These were the grounds as recorded in 
the statute-book of the glorious revolution, made as the act 
reads, to deliver this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power, 
and to prevent the Protestant religion from being subverted. 

But there are still to notice some things which lying history 
and vulgar prejudice urge against this unfortunate Catholic 
King, who has been charged with being the adviser of his late 
brother in all these deeds which have been deemed wicked, and 
especially in the putting to death of 

LORD RUSSELL AND ALGERNON SYDNEY 

for high treason. Many honest readers have been deluded upon 
this subject, and look upon these two persons as murdered men. 
The political Protestants were in the days of Charles the Second 
continually hatching popish plots, and by contrivances the most 
wicked bringing innocent Catholics to the scaffold and the gib- 
bet; and they were always denying the King the prerogative of 
pardoning the victims. But at last the King got real proof of a 
Protestant plot. The King was ill, and the conspiracy was for set- 
ting aside his brother by force of arms if the King should die. 
The King recovered, but the plot went on. They meant to bring 
an army of Protestant fanatics from Scotland, and either kill or 
banish James from the kingdom. In this Protestant plot Rus- 
sell and Sydney were the leaders. Russell did not attempt to 



History of Ireland. 165 

deny his part in the plot. His complaint was the indictment was 
not according to law ; but he was told, which was true, that it 
was exactly as he himself had decided in the case of the popish 
plotters. That part of the sentence which ordered his bowels to 
be ripped out while he was yet alive, and his body to be quartered, 
was, at the intercession of his family, remitted by the King, 
who, in granting their prayer, cuttingly said, "My Lord Russell 
shall find that I am possessed of that prerogative which, in the 
case of my Lord Stafford, he so cruelly denied me." 

As to Sydney, he had been one of the leaders in the bringing 
of Charles the First to the block. At the restoration of Charles 
the Second he had taken refuge abroad ; but having promised to 
be loyal in the future, the King, under guidance of his popish 
brother, pardoned him, great as his offence had been. 

Yet after this he conspired against the same King who par- 
doned him, and against his brother, and endeavored to plunge 
the country he had before desolated into another civil war. 
Cobbett says if anybody ever deserved an ignominous death, 
this Sydney deserved his. He did not deny, he could not deny, 
that the conspiracy had existed, and that he was one of the chiefs. 
He complained of the evidence against him. There was only 
one witness to his acts, and in case of high treason it required 
two. And here it was, that if it were possible, a blush might 
be raised on the cheeks of these revilers of popery ; for this very 
law, this law which has saved the lives of many innocent persons 
— this law came from that very Queen Mary, whom artful knaves 
have taught generations of thoughtless people to call "the bloody 
Mary." 

Cobbett goes on to say, seeing that Sydney had such a strong 
attachment to this popish law, and there was one witness against 
him, the crown lawyers, all Protestants, mind you, contrived to 
find another, by searching his drawers and making up another 
out of his own letters. It was in vain he objected to this part of 
the proceeding All men knew that hundreds of Catholics 
suffered death upon evidence slight indeed compared with that 
against him. All who were not fanatics admitted he received 
justice, and no more. So much for the good old cause for 



166 History of Ireland. 

which Hampden died on the field and Sydney on the scaffold. 
Macauley, who never wrote the truth where an untruth would 
suit him better, says Russell, who appears to have been guilty of 
no offence, and Sydney, of whose guilt no legal evidence could 
be produced, were beheaded in defiance of law and justice. 

Now if James, is to be loaded with all bad laws of his brother's 
reign, we cannot, in justice, refuse him the merits of the good 
deeds of that reign also. This reign gave us then the act of Habeas 
Corpus, which Blackburn calls, ' The Great Charter of English 
Liberty." This one act alone ought to have satisfied the fanat- 
ics they had nothing to fear from a popish King on the throne. 
Here the King gave up the right to put people in jail and keep 
them there at his will. 

English writers boast of this famous act of Habeas Corpus, 
but never have the gratitude to tell that it came from those 
against whom Russell and Sydney conspired. Then, again, was 
this act ever suspended during the reigns of these popish Kings? 
Never. But when the glorious revolution came, then was the 
Dutch deliverer authorized to put in prison, and keep there, any 
one that he or his hirelings might suspect. 

To make this history more intelligible, be it known that James 
had married a second wife, who at this time gave birth to a 
son, who was lawful heir to the throne. The Prince of Orange 
remained quiet while there was a chance of his succession to the 
throne by ordinary course of nature ; but when an heir possessing 
superior claim appeared he saw his hopes destroyed. Taylor 
says the Protestants, with more cunning than honesty, asserted 
that the infant was suppositious, knowing they were likely to 
lose their ill-gotten gains, should the young Prince ascend the 
throne of his father. A story, absurd and inconsistent with 
possibility and with itself, was told of a child being brought into 
the Queen's bed chamber in a warming pan and presented by her 
to the court as the royal offspring. 

It is very disgraceful to the memory of the Protestant Bishop 
Burnett that he sanctioned this calumny, and supported it by his 
authority as a minister of God, though he must have been fully 
convinced of its being a falsehood ; nor can the friends of the 



History of Ireland. 167 

Prince of Orange find any good excuse for joining in the stigma 
affixed to this unfortunate child. In Ireland the joy was bound- 
less, nor yet was it checked by doubt, for the absurd tale of the 
warning pan had not yet crossed the Channel. But the Irish 
Protestants were all interested in the success of William, as they 
were in possession of stolen property, though, perhaps, each indi- 
vidual Protestant was not a thief in the strict sense of the word. 
The Cromwellians and Episcopalians in Ireland detested each 
other's principles, but their union was effected by the hatred 
they both entertained toward toleration and the fear that James 
might do justice at last to the Catholics. 

James was unfortunate to be guilty of an act of justice and 
generosity, and this precipitated his ruin. He published a dec- 
laration of liberty of conscience to all creeds. He firmly be- 
lieved that his was a true religion, and that it would certainly 
prevail if it received fair play. This declaration was just and 
laudable, but these bigoted Protestants dreaded toleration, and 
so bent on persecuting the Catholics were the Puritans that they 
preferred to bear their own disabilities rather than allow the King 
to do justice to the Catholics. 

After the birth of the Prince of Wales, prayers were offered 
up for him in the English Chapel at the Hague for some months, 
but were discontinued when William determined to dispute his 
birth. The King, justly offended at this omission, wrote to his 
daughter Mary, a Princess celebrated for her piety, in a tone of 
indignity. The daughter, on this occasion, forgot both her piety 
and duty ; she replied, with mean and disgraceful equivocation, 
that the prayers had not been discontinued, but only sometimes 
forgotten. 

William landed at Torbay on the 5th of November, the anni- 
versary of the gunpowder plot, a coincidence of no small advan- 
tage. At first his prospect of success was doubtful, and be be- 
gan to speak of returning home, but the treacherous followers of 
James one by one abandoned his cause. Even his daughter 
Annie, with her husband, Prince George of Denmark, joined in 
the general desertion ; and James in his misery, exclaimed, 
"God help me ! Even my own children have deserted me!" 



168 History of Ireland. 

What were the hopes of William when he landed in England 
we cannot easily discover. Certain it is his supporters had no 
hope of placing him on the throne of his father-in-law without a 
struggle, and he himself could not hope for such a consummation. 
And when circumstances placed the sceptre within his grasp, he 
hastened to secure it by means far beneath a man of either honor 
or integrity. ' ' The mixture of wrong and cruelty by which James 
was robbed and driven into exile can neither be excused nor 
defended," says Taylor, "and must ever remain a deep and 
dark stain on the character of William the Third." 

The revolution was the work of the English aristocracy. The 
great body of the people had no share in producing it and 
gained nothing by it. 

The following letter was written by James himself and pub- 
lished by his order : " Tt cannot be a matter of surprise that I have 
retired from my country the second time. I might have ex- 
pected that the Prince of Orange would have acted otherwise, 
from the letter I wrote to him by Lord Feversham. But instead 
of answering me he had the Earl arrested, contrary to the rights 
of men, aiid sent three messengers after midnight with an order 
to leave my palace early next day. How could I think myself 
secure in the power of a man who could treat me in this manner? 
He has seized upon my kingdom, and in his first proclamation 
he has published the most malicious observations respecting the 
birth of my son. I appeal to those who know me, and to him- 
self, if, in their conscience, they could suspect me of such 
baseness, or that I was likely to be imposed upon in such a mat- 
ter. What then could be expected from a man who has used 
every means to make me appear to my people and the world the 
most wicked of men, in which he has so well succeeded as to cor- 
rupt my army and stir up my subjects to rebellion? 

' ' I was born free, and I wish to preserve my freedom. As I have 
risked my life on many occasions for the honor of my country, 
I am still ready to do the same, with the hope, though advanced 
in years, to deliver England from the slavery that threatens it. 
Convinced that it would be imprudent to subject myself to a 
prison, which would prevent me from carrying my plans of liberty 



History of Ireland. 169 

of conscience into execution, I have been, therefore, induced 
to withdraw, but shall remain near enough to return when the 
nation will have discovered that it has been deceived under the 
pretext of religion and liberty. I hope that God will, in his 
mercy, move the hearts of my people to perceive their unhappy 
condition, and dispose them to consent to the convening of a free 
Parliament, in which, among other things, liberty of conscience 
to all will be granted, and that those of my religion may be per- 
mitted to live in peace, as becomes all good Englishmen and good 
Christians, and that they will not be compelled to leave their 
country to which they are so strongly attached. Those who 
have a knowledge of the present stage of things will admit that 
nothing would contribute so much to the prosperity of England 
as freedom of conscience, and none but bigots would oppose 
its being granted." 

In the height of this astonishing revolution, the Prince of 
Orange, being informed of the state of things in Scotland, com- 
manded the peers of that country, several of whom were in 
London, to repair to St. James's. Thirty peers and eighty oth- 
ers met accordingly. William made them the same offer he had 
made to the English, and sought their advice on the means nec- 
essary for the protection of religion and the laws. They then 
withdrew to Whitehall, and after appointing the Duke of Ham- 
ilton chairman began to discuss the terms they had to offer to 
William. The proposal of the Earl of Arran was unanimously 
rejected. He was son to the Duke of Hamilton, and proposed 
to invite James to return to Scotland, and laid down terms for 
him to submit to. It was arranged instead at their meeting 
to surrender the government of their country to the Prince of 
Orange, and asking that he appoint the 14th of March for the 
states of Scotland to meet. But our object is to trace the effects 
of the coming of the deliverer, as he is styled by his friends, on 
Ireland and the people of that afflicted country. 

A. D. 1689. The progress of the revolution in England was 
watched in Ireland with much anxiety. Catholics and Protest- 
ants alike felt that their properties, and perhaps their lives, were 
about to be perilled once again in the doubtful hazard of war. 



170 History of Ireland,. 

Tryconnell showed more prudence at this crisis than his unhappy 
master. He amused the Protestants by a negotiation with 
WilHam, and at the same time took every means to increase the 
strength of the Catholic army. On the first rumor of the inva- 
sion he had sent some of the best Irish regiments to join the 
royal army in England and Scotland, an error which he now 
bitterly lamented. The army raised by Tryconnell filled the 
Protestants with alarm, which was increased by the vile arts 
which these fanatics have so often practiced in Ireland. Rumors 
were spread of an intended general massacre of Protestants. 
Anonymous letters, stating the exact time when the work of 
blood was to commence, were sent to several persons, and the 
most innocent circumstances were used by these wretches as 
proofs of the atrocious designs of these Papists. The Scrip- 
ture says, "The wicked flee when no man pursueth," and here 
is the proof of the truth of the text. These people knew in 
their hearts they had no right in Ireland but the right of the 
strongest, or the right of the highwayman to our purse, and 
wherever they could obtain shipping hastened to fly the coun- 
try ; and in Dublin a crowd of men, women and children rushed 
to the shore imploring the sailors to save them from the daggers 
of the Irish. As many as could possibly stow themselves on 
board the ships in the harbor hastened away, leaving their less 
successful friends on the shore in all the agonies of despair. 
The English and Scotch fanatics whom the King's grandfather, 
James the First, established in the north of Ireland, and on 
whom he bestowed the lands of the ancient proprietors; and 
also the cruel wretches to whom Cromwell gave the lands of 
those who supported the royal cause, and whom Charles the 
Second, brother of James, confirmed in their unjust possessions, 
on the first news of William landing in England took up arms 
and declared in his favor, against the grandson and brother of 
the benefactors to whom they were indebted for their fortunes. 
This conduct was in direct opposition to every sentiment of 
gratitude which a generous mind ought to manifest for benefits 
received. These proteges of Charles were the first to raise the 
standard of rebellion in Ireland and favor the usurpation of the 



History of Ireland. 171 

Prince of Orange. Major Poe, an officer of Cromwell's, opened 
the scene and began hostilities. He was commander of two 
companies of cavalry, and ordered the tenants of Lord Bellew, 
under pain of military law, to have five hundred pounds ster- 
ling made up for him next day. Lord Bellew, apprised of what 
was going on, sent his son, aged eighteen years, to assist the 
farmers with a company of dragoons of which he was lieuten- 
ant. The two corps met and fought with determined bravery, 
till young Bellew having killed Major Poe with a blow of his 
pistol on the head, his troops were put to flight. Soon after this, 

LORD BLANEY, 

another adherent of the Dutchman, made an attempt to seize 
the town and castle of Ardee, but finding the little garrison de- 
termined to defend the place, determined to give up the attack. 
The father of Lord Blaney was one of those psalm-singing Puri- 
tans to whom James the First gave estates in County Monahan. 
His son who was introduced here, was one of James the Sec- 
ond's greatest enemies, who was the grandson of his benefactor. 
The remainder of the year 1689 was spent in raising troops and 
preparing for the ensuing campaign. 

At this time the nobility of Ireland raised and equipped at 
their own expense thirty thousand men for the King's service. 
The regiments of Enniskillen, of Hugh McMahon, Edward 
Roy O'Reilly, McDonnell, Maginnis, Cormac O'Neill, Gordon 
O'Neill, Felix O'Neill, Brian O'Neill, Con Maguire, O'Donnell, 
Nugent, Lutterell, Fitzgerald, Galmoy, O'Mara, Clare and some 
others, soon appeared in the field. There was no want of sol- 
diers, but they were in want of everything except courage, and 
the nobles who underwent the first expense were not able to 
support it long. There were also but few officers who knew 
military tactics, and who knew how to train the raw levies ; so 
that in discipline, and even arms, they were sadly deficient. In 
the month of March Tryconnell sent Lieutenant-General Ham- 
ilton of the King's army, at the head of two thousand men, 
against Hugh Montgomery, who had declared for the Prince of 
Orange, and was at the head of eight thousand rebels in Uls- 



172 History of Ireland. 

ter, Hamilton set out from Drogheda on the ist of March with 
his army. Having passed Dundalk and Newry he stopped at 
Louth-Brickland, from whence he sent Butler of Killcoop, one 
of his aids, to reconnoiter the enemy. This officer brought an 
account that Montgomery was within three miles at the head of 
eight thousand men at a place called Dromore. Hamilton 
ordered his Httle army to march, and met the rebels boldly 
drawn up in order of battle at Cladyfort. Notwithstanding the 
English were four to one, the Irish attacked them so vigorously 
that they took to flight and retreated in disorder towards Hills- 
borough, where Montgomery left a garrison and retreated in haste 
with the rest of his forces through Belfast, and did not stop till he 
arrived in Colerain, from whence he sailed to England. In order 
to follow up this victory. General Hamilton pursued the English 
to Hillsborough, and making prisoners of the troops Montgom- 
ery had left there disarmed and dismissed them. He did not order 
them to be shot down, as Cromwell and the Puritan psalm-singers 
invariably did with Irish prisoners. Hamilton still pursued the 
English through Belfast and Antrim as far as Colerain on the river 
Bann, without being able to come up to them. Having encamped 
at Ballymony, near Colerain, he remained there three days to re- 
fresh his troops after their long march. The English, as usual, 
next day sallied forth to steal the cattle of the neighborhood, and 
Hamilton drove them back to the gates of the town ; but hav- 
ing neither cannon nor ammunition to carry on a siege returned 
to Ballimony. The Duke of Berwick and several officers arrived 
in the camp of Hamilton [before Colerain, and the same night 
they were informed that the English had again ran away, after 
having broken the bridge. The same day the army of Hamil- 
ton entered Colerain, and having repaired the bridge and given 
the command of the place to Colonel O'Mara, he marched to 
Strabane, where he refreshed his troops and held a council of 
war. 

Here it was understood by Hamilton that the rebels of Innis- 
killin and Derry, in all about ten thousand men, were posted at 
Clady bridge, on the river Finn, under the command of Major 
General Lundee. Hamilton marched to attack the rebels, and 



History of Ireland. 173 

found on. his arrival that the first arch of the bridge was broken, 
and a fort built on the opposite side defended by two thousand 
men. To surmount these difficulties Hamilton posted six com- 
panies with orders to fire on those who were guarding the fort, 
for the purpose of covering some workmen sent to repair the 
bridge. Everything was done with the greatest order. The 
bridge was repaired with planks, the artillery passed over with- 
out difficulty, while the cavalry was crossing the river by a ford 
in view of the English. This intrepid act disconcerted the rebels. 
Not only those who were guarding the fort, but the whole army, 
took to fiight, some of them reaching Derry and some Innis- 
killin. They were pursued to Raphoe by the Irish troops, who 
killed many of them without any loss on their own side except 
Major Nangle of Tryconnell's regiment. After this defeat Dun- 
dee, who held Culmore for the Dutchman, hastily fled with his 
troops and embarked for England. 

Hamilton found an abundance of provisions at Raphoe, where 
he stopped and was joined by Lord Galmoy at the head of eight 
hundred men. During his stay there he received offers of ca- 
pitulation from the rebels in Derry. The Protestants under 
arms in Derry numbered about six thousand fighting men. Ham- 
ilton, knowing the importance of the place, promised them their 
lives, properties and protection on condition that the city should 
be surrendered by twelve o'clock next day, which terms were 
accepted and ratified on both sides. The King, who had fled 
to France on the arrival of the Dutchman and his army in Eng- 
land, returned to Ireland in the month of March and landed in 
Kinsale. At Cork he was met by Tryconnell, whom he created 
Duke and proceeded to Dublin, arriving at Raphoe the same 
day that Hamilton made peace with the Protestants of Derry. 

King James was displeased with the terms Hamilton had 
granted the rebels, and marched directly to Derry and summoned 
it to surrender at discretion. This change made by the King 
from the terms previously agreed upon gave great alarm to the 
garrison, as it had been agreed that the King's troops should not 
advance till the place would be evacuated, and now they began 
to doubt his sincerity. It was determined therefore to defend 



174 History of Ireland. 

the town to the last extremity, and a fanatical Protestant minister 
named Walker took command of the garrison. 

The King ordered Hamilton to begin the siege. Artillery 
was sent for, but did not arrive for two months. It consisted of 
but two old cannon and two mortars, with a small quantity of 
powder. During the siege of Derry the besieged made several 
sallies against the besiegers, the first occurred on a Sunday with 
five thousand men. The King's army, who were but two thou- 
sand all told, received them with such firmness that they were 
forced to retreat with loss. The besieged made two more sallies 
but were equally unsuccessful. The city of Derry was well 
provided with military stores of every kind, and it had forty 
pieces of cannon planted on the walls, which annoyed the be- 
siegers considerably. The succors with which the Prince of 
Orange intended to relieve Derry soon made their appearance. 
An English fleet of twenty ships of war, and three hundred 
transport vessels laden with provisions, warlike stores, and six 
thousand troops under General Kirk, appeared in Loughfoyle 
in the beginning of August. Kirk succeeded in a few days in 
breaking through the obstacles placed in the harbor by the Roy- 
alists to prevent him entering. Having relieved the besieged as 
they were about to surrender, the Royalists were withdrawn on 
the loth of August, after a siege of twenty-three days. The 
King then ordered Hamilton to lead his army to Dublin, to op- 
pose Shomberg, who was expected to land with an army in the 
neighborhood of that city. 

The delay in making any effort to support the Protestants in 
Ireland exposed William to great censure. He found the crown 
he had been so eager to obtain was indeed a crown of thorns, 
and that those who had been so eager in promoting his eleva- 
tion were now as anxious to hasten his downfall. Dundee was 
in arms against him in Scotland ; the English fleet had suffered 
a severe defeat in Baptry bay ; the French King threatened the 
ruin of Holland, which William loved much better than Eng- 
land, and, finally, the distraction of England prevented William 
from paying that attention to Ireland which the Protestants who 
unjustly held the property of the Irish people very imperatively 



History of Ireland. 175 

demanded. The popular discontent hurried the preparations. 
With considerable difficulty an army of twelve thousand men 
was assembled and placed under the command of Shomberg, 
an officer of great reputation. This army was composed of 
Danes, Germans, Dutchmen, French, and adventurers from every 
country in Europe. Bravery was the chief, almost the only, 
valuable attribute possessed by these men, if we may call them 
men. They were the outcasts of society, familiar with every 
crime, abandoned to every excess. Taylor, a Protestant, but 
honest enough to tell the truth, says: "Vices for which lan- 
guage scarcely ventures to find a name ; abominations that may 
not be described and can scarcely be imagined, were constantly 
practiced by these bands, which the long continental wars had 
called into existence. The traditions of the Irish, Protestant 
and Catholic alike, contain a horrid catalogue of the enormities 
practiced by ' this black banditti, ' and these accounts are fully 
confirmed by the accounts contemporary writers have given of 
their conduct in other countries." Dr, George, Shomberg's 
chaplain, in speaking of William's army, writes : " Can we ex- 
pect that Sodom will destroy Babylon, or that debauchery will 
extirpate popery? The Papists fight against us with the prin- 
ciple of a mistaken conscience, we against them without either 
conviction or conscience." With these wretches were joined 
some raw English levies, who found it much easier to imitate 
the debaucheries than to practice the discipline of the foreign- 
ers. Indeed, no worse scourge could be sent by an angry Provi- 
dence than the army sent by the glorious Dutch deliverer to 
plunder and murder the unfortunate Irish. 

On the 13th of August, 1689, Shomberg's troops landed in 
Bangor bay, near Carrickfergus, without any opposition. A 
favorable opportunity was offered the Irish for attacking him 
during the night, but it was lost because they had greatly over- 
rated the strength of the enemy. They believed it amounted to 
thirty thousand, though only about one-third of that number; 
and they also believed it was composed entirely of veterans, 
though at least one-third were raw levies. It was long before 
this error was dissipated, Shomberg's first enterprise was the 



176 Hist or ij of Ireland. 

siege of Carrickfergus. The place was vigorously attacked and 
as obstinately defended. McArthy More, the governor, did 
not surrender until his last barrel of powder was expended, and 
even then obtained honorable conditions, "It is painful to 
add," says Taylor, "that the terms of this treaty were shame- 
fully violated. The inhabitants were stripped and plundered, 
ond the women treated with a licentious cruelty that will not 
admit of description. It is worthy of remark that in all the 
civil wars with which Ireland has been devastated, no instance 
of a single injury offered to a female can be charged against the 
Irish, while in every instance the conduct of the English soldiers 
was not only licentious but brutal." 

Soon after the English army had landed, they were joined by 

THE ENNISKILLINERS, 

and were perfectly astounded by the appearance of the men 
whose fame had been trumpeted to England as the very essence 
of Protestantism. Every man was armed and equipped after 
his own fashion, and each one was attended by a mounted serv- 
ant bearing his baggage. Discipline was as little regarded as 
uniformity. They rode in a confused body, and only formed a 
hasty line when preparing to fight. Descended from the Levelers 
and Covenanters, they preserved all the gloomy fanaticism of their 
fathers, and believed the slaughtering of Papists the work of the 
Lord. They were robbers and murderers from principle, for 
they believed themselves commissioned by Heaven to remove 
idolatry from the land. Inferior to the old Levelers in strength 
and skill, they equalled them in enthusiasm. They never hesi- 
tated to encounter any odds however unequal, and rejoiced in 
the prospect of death while engaged in what they called the 
service of the Lord. Reeking from the field of slaughter, they 
assembled around their preachers, who always accompanied 
them in their expeditions, and listened with eager delight to their 
wild harangues, in which the slaughters of the Old Testament were 
strangely combined with their own gross and vulgar sentiments. 
Neither Shomberg nor any of William's generals understood 
these men, and William himself despised them heartily, and 



History of Ireland. 177 

subjected them to military execution by the dozen for violating 
the laws of war. From the time they joined the army they 
performed nothing worthy of their former fame, simply because 
they could not learn the new mode of fighting. They were 
aware of this themselves, and frequently said they could not 
fight under orders. 

Shomberg advanced along the coast, where he was supported 
by his fleet. The country was a complete desert, having been 
exhausted in the warfare between the Enniskilliners and the 
Irish. At Shomberg's approach James's generals were inchned 
to retreat, but were prevented by Tryconnell, who promised 
them a re-enforcement of twenty thousand men. 

When Shomberg arrived at Dundalk, his ships with provisions 
had not arrived ; his troops were exhausted, and flying parties 
of Irish hung on his flank and cut off his men from food and 
forage. 

The Irish generals soon saw that "he wanted something," 
and began to concentrate their forces. Shomberg could not 
hazard a battle. He therefore choose to encamp and fortify 
himself by entrenchments. Both armies were anxious to fight, 
and both were disappointed by their leaders. The English said 
they came to fight like soldiers, not to work as slaves ; and they 
had imbibed from the Enniskilliners a contempt of the enemy. 

The King knowing his few Irish troops were unable to oppose 
Shomberg, resolved to collect his forces about the center of the 
kingdom, and called on all his faithful subjects to join him. He 
soon had an army of twenty thousand men assembled at Dro- 
gheda, wanting everything but courage, for when William stole 
the crown he at the same time stole the purse, and consequently 
James was without money, and unfortunately his friends in Ire- 
land were in the same fix, having also been robbed by Henry, 
Elizabeth, James the First, and by Cromwell and his psalm- 
singers. 

In the meantime Shomberg landed near Belfast and laid siege 
to Carrickfergus, which was held by McArty More, nephew to 
the Earl of Antrim. McArty having but one barrel of powder 



178 History of Ireland. 

was forced to surrender the castle after a feeble defence. Shom- 
berg then marched his army to Dundalk. James having arrived 
at Drogheda, sent two lieutenants, Butler of Kilcop, and Gar- 
land, each at the head of a detachment to reconnoiter the enemy. 
They brought back word to the King that Shomberg was en- 
camped, and that his left was stretched along Castle-Bellew, 
his center extending toward Dundee and his left towards the sea. 
Upon this the King hastened to Ardee, where he stopped and 
sent General Hamilton with the whole of the cavalry to Aphene, 
where he was separated from the enemy by a bog and ravine. 
The King arrived in a few hours with the infantry, and encamped 
for some days in presence of the enemy. Tryconnell and all 
the general officers of the army were for attacking the enemy. 
The opportunity was favorable, as sickness had prostrated many 
of Shomberg's troops. Out of twelve thousand there were not 
more than three thousand fit for the field, and had the attack 
been made the enemy would have been forced to fly to their 
ships, three of which were in the harbor of Dundalk. The 
King at length, urged by his general officers, put his army in 
order of battle and marched, as with a design of turning the 
enemy, on the side of the morass. But scarcely had they 
marched a league when he ordered the whole army to return to 
camp, where they remained 'till October without making any 
attack on the enemy. 

The English soldiers were in bad humor with their general, 
and they showed it by neglecting their own comfort. Too obsti- 
nate to erect huts for their protection or to remove the dead 
bodies of their comrades for interment, they actually used the 
carcasses of the dead for shade and shelter, and murmured 
when deprived of the accommodation. 

Shomberg allowed the Enniskilliners to pursue their own mode 
of warfare, viz : to slay and steal on their own hook. But their 
triumphs were more than compensated by the loss of. James- 
town and Sligo, which Sarsfield had taken from the English 
by storm. The arrival of some fresh regiments enabled Shom- 
berg to remove from the camp, but even the retreat was attended 
with shocking calamities. The motion of the wagons over the 



History of Ireland. 179 

rough roads proved fatal to many of the sick, and they were 
thrown out by the road side as they expired. The rear guard 
of Shomberg's army marched through a lane formed of the 
bodies of their dead comrades. Thus ended a campaign, during 
which it has been said with truth that ' ' Shomberg did nothing, 
and James helped him." 

The English were sadly disappointed when they learned that 
Shomberg had so completely failed in his campaign. The Crom- 
wellians had represented the Irish as despicable cowards, who 
might be subdued with little trouble or hazard, and the English 
had greedily adopted an opinion so flattering to their prejudices. 
The readers of Macauley or Froude need not be told that John 
Bull still holds on to these prejudices, though the whole world 
knows they are false. Great then was the astonishment in Eng- 
land to find a well-appointed army and one of the best generals 
in Europe baffled by these very Irish, though headed by the 
imbecile James. The House of Commons resolved to inquire 
into the cause of the disappointment, and thereby got up a 
quarrel with the King. The Whigs and William hated each 
other cordially, but they were necessary to each other. As has 
been already observed, they helped him to steal the crown, 
and he protected them in holding on to their stolen properties. 
They were consequently forced to assume the semblance of rec- 
onciliation. 

William is said, on good authority, to have meditated resign- 
ing the crown and returning to Holland, but was dissuaded by 
some of the Puritan leaders, who promised to bring the Com- 
mons into a better temper. At the same time he professed his 
intention of taking the command of the Irish army in person. 

William, with an army of thirty-six thousand men, landed in 
Ireland, and encamped on the bank of the river Boyne, where 
the great battle was fought. 

William, previous to his arrival in Ireland, sent over strong 
re-enforcements to his army in Ulster. The troops were made 
up of those foreign adventurers we have already described. On 
the 6th of June his grand park of artillery, with all the ordinance 
stores, was landed at Carrickfergus, and thither Williain came 



180 History of Ireland. 

himself on the 14th, accompanied by Prince George of Den- 
mark, the Duke of Ormond, and other nobles. The clergymen 
of the Established Church presented William with an address, 
differing little from that they had already presented to James, 
but were probably more sincere. These hypocrites had neither 
religion nor principle. James was regularly prayed for in all 
the churches within his lines. When William came his name 
was substituted, and when he retreated he again became ''Our 
most religious and gracious King." William now distributed 
a large sum of money among the Puritan ministers. They 
certainly were his most faithful friends, and never once uttered 
a prayer for King James. 

William now ordered his army southward, determined to 
fight as soon as possible, and when some of his officers advised 
caution he replied, "I came not into Ireland to let the grass 
grow under my feet." His army amounted to thirty-six thou- 
sand veterans, whose valor had been proved on several battle- 
fields on the continent of Europe, besides several thousand Eng- 
lish recruits. James, on hearing of William's landing hastened 
to join his army, encamped on the southern bank of the river 
Boyne. His generals vainly endeavored to dissuade him from 
fighting. They represented to him that his army was but half 
that of the enemy; that the greater part of them were raw levies ; 
but he insisted on fighting, yet at the same time dispatched Sir 
Patrick Trent to Waterford to secure a ship for his escape in 
case of misfortune. 

James had now made two egregious blunders which deeply 
affected his cause and eventually caused him the loss of Ireland. 
At Derry he rejected, contrary to sound policy, the terms en- 
tered into between General Hamilton and the garrison of that 
city. This would have put into his hands that important place 
which was the key of the north, and besides being an arsenal, it 
afforded his enemies by its situation an easy and safe entrance 
into the kingdom. At Dundalk he showed a weak compassion 
for the English, and an imprudent clemency toward subjects in 
arms against him and trying to tear the sceptre from his hand. 



History of Ireland. 181 

No wonder the brave Irish generals said bitterly, "If the King 
had a hundred kingdoms he would lose them all." 

The Prince of Orange landed in the spring in the north of Ire- 
land with a powerful army, composed ofalmostallthe cut-throats 
and fanatics in Europe. King James marched his army in June 
to Dundalk. The enemy's forces amounted to forty-five thousand 
men, well provided with everything and well trained, and had 
with them sixty pieces of heavy cannon. The troops of King 
James amounted to only twenty-three thousand men, nearly all 
raw recruits, not disciplined, and badly provided with arms. 
Their artillery consisted of only twelve cannon that were brought 
from France. For, as a matter of course, William stole all of 
James' cannon at the time he took his crown. This great dis- 
proportion in numbers induced the royal army to endeavor to 
take some posts and prevent the Prince of Orange from advanc- 
ing, or at least fight him under disadvantage. It was, therefore, 
proposed to encamp on the heights near Dundalk, which it 
would be difficult for him to pass. The English, however, by 
making a circuitous movement, would be able to gain the flat 
country at the rear of the royal army. And, therefore, to avoid 
this it was resolved that they should encamp beyond the river 
Boyne near Drogheda. The Prince of Orange followed and en- 
camped on the opposite side of the river on the 29th of June. 
On the next day the enemy divided their army, William with 
one half marched along the river as far as Slane, where he was 
met by two regiments of dragoons commanded by Sir Neal 
O'Neill, who guarded the pass, but those being forced to give 
way he advanced toward the royal army. James, who witnessed 
this manoeuyre, marched also on the same side of the river with 
the greater part of his army and left eight battalions under 
Lieutenant General Hamilton to guard the pass at Oldbridge. 
The cavalry, which formed the right wing, was commanded by 
the Duke of Berwick. Shomberg at the same time attacked 
Oldbridge, and meeting with feeble resistance from some newly 
raised and inexperienced troops, he made himself master of the 
place. Upon this Hamilton marched down with his force to 
drive away the enemy, but their cavalry having discovered an- 



182 History of Ireland. 

other ford, which they crossed, advanced upon the infantry with 
the hope of cutting the royal army in two. The Duke of Ber- 
wick now moved his cavalry to cover the retreat of the battalions, 
but he had to begin an unequal attack, the enemy being two to 
one, and the ground being much broken the charge was re- 
newed ten different times, and at length the infantry making an 
obstinate stand the cavalry halted, after which they formed again 
and marched at a slow pace to join the King. 

James, in the meantime having reformed his troops in order 
to attack the enemy, William's main body guard, the finest 
troops in Europe, now entered the river with the water rising as 
high as their breasts. They advanced firmly, holding their guns 
above their heads, under a severe and close fire poured upon 
them by several Irish battalions under Hamilton. The Dutch 
ipushed forward, and having gained the bank rapidly formed, driv 
ng the skirmishers before them. They were furiously charged- 
by the Irish cavalry, but though they suffered severely their 
ranks remained unbroken. William now ordered two Huguenot 
regiments and one British to advance to the relief of his favor- 
ite troops. They were met by the Irish infantry in the stream, 
but at length made good their passage. Scarcely, however, had 
this been effected when they were charged by the Irish cavalry, 
the English being taken in the flank were broken, scattered and 
trampled down in a moment. Their general was slain, the 
greater part of the men cut to pieces ; a few fled to the opposite 
bank pursued by the Irish dragoons. The Danish horse soldiers 
next advanced, but were broken by the Irish in the very first 
charge and driven back in great confusion. The superiority of 
the Irish cavalry was now so apparent that William's soldiers 
who had not yet crossed the river raised a cry of "Horse ! horse !" 
which, being mistaken for an order to halt, greatly increased the 
confusion. 

Had James at this time placed himself at the head of his Irish 
troops for one general charge, the result of the battle would no 
doubt have restored his crown. But he remained a passive spec- 
tator on the hill of Donore, and exclaimed as he witnessed the 
destructive charge of the Irish dragoons, "Spare, oh spare my 



History of Ii'dand. 183 

English subjects!" William now hastened to bring up his left 
wing to retrieve the fortune of the day, and at the same time 
Shomberg rallied some infantry and led them to the relief of the 
centre. But the Irish dragoons returning from pursuing the 
Danes charged and routed this re-enforcement. Shomberg was 
taken prisoner, but immediately after shot by one of his own 
men. At the same time fell Walker, the clergyman who so 
bravely defended Derry, and who seems to have abandoned the 
cause of the Prince of Peace for that of the Prince of Orange, 
who was so ungrateful as to say when told of his death, "The 
fool ! what business had he there?" 

The left wing, consisting of the Danish, Dutch and Enniskil- 
liner horse now advanced with William himself at their head. 
They charged furiously and forced back the Irish infantry. But 
the Irish dragoons still preserved their former superiority. They 
completely broke the foreign cavalry, and threatened to flank 
William's battalions. He then rode to the Enniskilliners and 
asked "what they would do for him?" They declared they 
were ready to follow him. The Irish seeing these fanatical rob- 
bers advancing poured into them such a destructive volley that 
they fled from the field at full gallop. 

Their apologists say they misunderstood their orders. How- 
ever that may be, it is certain that William ever after looked upon 
these wretches with contempt, not unmingled with hatred. The 
Irish infantry were forced to retreat to the hill of Donore, where 
they made such a desperate stand that W^illiam's army recoiled. 
Hamilton now ordered a general charge, but the English being 
more than two to one their squares could not be broken. His 
troops recoiled and he remained a prisoner. The Irish then made 
good their retreat to Duleck, and their cavalry effectually 
checked every attempt at pursuit. 

It is amusing to read the account Macauley gives John Bull 
of this battle. He knew well if he wrote a true statement of the 
facts John would not believe him, nor yet buy his book, so it 
was necessary to depreciate the valor of the Irish. And on this 
occasion, as on every other, he has not neglected it. But the 
main facts of the battle are undisputable. William's army was 



184 History of Ireland. 

numerically superior to his opponents nearly two to one. The 
English had a still greater advantage in disipline and experi- 
ence, and also in their artillery and equipments. Yet was the 
issue of the contest doubtful to the last moment of the day, 
and at the close William had gained nothing but the ground on 
which it had been fought. . Except Hamilton the English took 
no prisoners, and the Irish preserved all their artillery, baggage 
and standards. The number slain on the field of battle was 
about equal on both sides, but for the cruelty of William's soldiers 
who murdered all the peasantry that had come through curiosity 
to see the battle, also the stragglers and the wounded. In this 
safe, but not very honorable service, the Enniskilliners were 
particularly distinguished. 

The superiority of Hamilton's cavalry seems to have sorely 
annoyed those bigoted Protestants who hate to acknowledge 
any merit in Irishmen. Some of them have said that their 
valot was owing to a half pint of brandy which had been admin- 
istered to each dragoon in the morning. But after the many 
proofs of Irish bravery during the late war, it is unnecessary to 
vindicate their character here in America, but as there are 
bigots, even here, who tried to revive these calumnies, it is 
the duty of an impartial historian to defend the character of the 
brave, more especially as they have always been slandered by 
bigots. 

Before the battle was over James fled to Dublin and summoned 
a council of his friends. To them he made a speech equally 
false, malignant and ungrateful. He said he believed the con- 
test hopeless, and then continued his flight to Waterford, break- 
ing down the bridges to prevent a pursuit. The Irish were 
heartily glad to get rid of him. They justly ascribed their fail- 
ure to his incapacity. "Change Kings, " was their common 
cry, " and we will fight the battle over again." And even to 
this day the name of the wretched King is never mentioned in 
Ireland without the utmost contempt and detestation. 

Thus left to themselves, the Irish leaders determined to adopt 
their original plan, and withdrew their forces behind the Shan- 
non. Before leaving Dublin they released all the prisoners 



History of Ireland. 185 

whom James had confined for political offences, and resigned 
the custody of the records of the city into the hands of the prin- 
cipal Protestants. Scarcely, however, was the garrison with- 
drawn than a Protestant mob assembled and began to plunder 
the Catholics. The brave Sarsfield's house was not only rob- 
bed, but totally destroyed. These fanatics burned all the houses 
belonging to the Catholics in the suburbs and threatened to 
burn the city. Though it is well known that none of them were 
disturbed when the Catholics were in power, and that the Catho- 
lics, in a Parliament where their majority was twenty to one, 
passed laws for the protection of Protestants, and that no person 
should be disturbed on account of his religion. We will find 
how William and his followers treated these same Catholics by 
and by. Drogheda surrendered immediately after the battle of 
the Boyne — William having declared that he would give no 
quarter in case of resistance, showing clearly he was at heart as 
barbarous as Cromwell. The French fleet was at sea to block- 
ade William's army in Ireland, but they were met by James and 
returned with him to France, and thus "saved William's army 
from ruin. 

No pretence whatever can be discovered for treating the Irish 
then in arms as rebels, even if James had abdicated the English 
throne, which clearly he did not, still he had never in any way 
resigned his right to Ireland. The Irish Parliament had unani- 
mously recognized him as their King and his authority had been 
obeyed throughout the island. William knew this, but he could 
not do justice even if he wished. He was at the mercy of the 
Protestant and Puritan parties, in both England and Ireland, 
who maintained that the Irish had rebelled against "the Eng- 
lish interest and Protestant ascendency, " two convenient phrases 
for their own crime and tyranny. After a long pause William 
advanced to Dublin and formed his camp at Finglass, within two 
miles of that city, where he gratified the rapacity of his adher- 
ents by issuing a commission of forfeitures — that means to steal 
the estates of those officers in the army of James, as he himself 
had stolen James's kingdom and crown — and denouncing rob- 
bery and murder against all the Irish noblemen and gentlemen 



186 History of Ireland. 

who were in arms to support the cause of their rightful sovereign. 
The Irish leaders, if they had ever wavered, were confirmed in 
the design of maintaining the war by this iniquitous denuncia- 
tion. William also offered pardon and protection to all laborers 
and farmers who would live in peace. 

The Irish army having fortified themselves at Limerick and 
Athlone, and being secured by the strong line of the Shannon, 
they boldly set the English at defiance. The reduction of Ath- 
lone was entrusted to General Douglass, under whose command 
were placed ten regiments of infantry and five of cavalry. He 
advanced as if he was marching through an enemy's country. 
The protections which William had promised the farmers and 
peasants were flagrantly disregarded, and the barbarities of the 
soldiers, which the general made no effort to check, completed 
the aversion of the Irish to the Dutchman and his brutal sol- 
diers. Before proceeding south William reduced Wexford, 
Waterford, Clonmel and Dungannon with little difficulty. The 
fortifications of these places had not been repaired since Crom- 
well's war, and as the Irish had resolved to make their stand 
behind the Shannon, no effort was made to save them. 

The news from England was so alarming that William was on 
the point of returning. He had, in fact, completed all prepara- 
tions for his departure, when more favorable news arrived, and 
he resolved to remain and prosecute the Irish war. On arriving 
before Athlone, Douglass found the bridge broken down and the 
place fortified with great care. Colonel Grace, the governor, 
a descendant of the Norman, Raymond le Gross, had taken every 
possible precaution against a siege. Doi^glass was surprised to 
find such preparation for his reception. He sent a summons 
into town, but Grace, enraged at the cruelties of the English 
army, fired a pistol at the messenger and bade him take that for 
his answer. Douglass having erected a battery, opened a heavy 
fire on the town. It was returned with superior vigor ; his works 
were ruined, and his best gunners all killed. The cruelties 
his soldiers had perpetrated on the peasantry, produced their 
natural effect. No provisions were brought into his camp, and 
the detached parties sent out to forage were cut off by parties 



History of Ireland. 187 

of those unfortunate men whom they had themselves driven to 
desperation. 

The Protestants in the neighborhood suffered most severely. 
Before the arrival of the English army they had taken out pro- 
tection from the Catholic commanders, and had lived safely 
under them. But on the approach of the English they resigned 
these protections, and declared themselves subjects of William. 
Their reward was insult and robbery. The English soldiers and 
their cut-throat allies cared more for plunder than religion, and 
with strict impartiality robbed both Catholic and Protestant 
There was this difference, however, between them — the Catholic 
could at any time find safety within the Irish lines, while the 
Protestants, having declared for William, were forced to submit 
to whatever indignities his army chose to inflict, and they were 
numerous, grievous aud oppressive. 

After having fired for several days on Athlone to little pur- 
pose, it was determined by the English to cross the river at 
Lanesborough, some miles further north; but the detachment 
sent for this purpose found the place occupied, and was forced 
to retire with heavy loss. An attempt was made to cross at a 
ford some distance from the bridge, but this was found so well 
secured by field-works, which the Irish had erected on the bank, 
that the attempt was given up as desperate. 

In the meantime a report was circulated that Sarsfield was 
marching with fifteen thousand men to raise the siege. Doug- 
lass had no longer any hopes of success. He retired in great 
haste, abandoning his stores and baggage. The miseries en- 
dured by these robbers in their retreat were dreadful, but they 
were exceeded by the unfortunate Protestants, who had no other 
alternative but to follow their oppressors. Douglass found 
William advancing on Limerick, fully persuaded he was march- 
ing to speedy and certain conquest. But his commisison of for- 
feitures by its injustice had left the Irish no choice between war 
and a tame submission to his unprincipled spoliation.* 

P"ew besieging armies ever exhibited such a variety of tongues 
and nations as that now before Limerick, and still fewer were 
less guided by any principle of morals or humanity. They 



188 History of Ireland. 

plundered and burned the country in every direction, "and 
renewed the scenes, " says Taylor, "of brutal lust and barbarous 
murder 'which had been displayed at Athlone. And here, also, 
the Protestants were the sufferers, for on the advance of the Eng- 
lish, they had all resigned their Irish protection, under which 
they were permitted to live in peace, for, to the credit of the 
Irish army, the barbarity, theft and brutal lust of the English 
army was unknoAvn amongst them." The vigorous defence of 
the garrison of Limerick filled William with alarm. He sent 
orders to hasten his heavy artillery, and commanded his cavalry 
to scour, the country and rob and harrass the peasants, who 
sought every opportunity of retaliating the wrong they received 
from the soldiers. The news of William's situation was conveyed 
into Limerick by a deserter, and Sarsfield immediately formed 
the daring plan of capturing the cannon that were now on the 
road. For this purpose he secretly led his troops over Tho- 
mond bridge, and proceeded up the Shannon as far as Killaloe, 
crossed over into the County Tipperary, and waited in ambush 
on the line of march the escort must pursue. A Protestant 
brought intelligence of Sarsfield's march to William's camp, but 
the English officers laughed at him for his pains, and much time 
was lost before he could be admitted into William's presence. 
William at once saw Sarsfield's object, and ordered Sir John 
Lainer to proceed with a detachment of five hundred horse to 
protect the convoy and cannon. The precaution was taken too 
late. The cannon arrived within seven miles of William's camp 
without having seen an enemy during the journey from Dublin. 
Here they halted in reckless security, not fearing an attack so 
near the main body of the army. Suddenly Sarsfield and his 
cavalry rushed upon them. The wagoners and sentinels were 
cut to pieces in a moment, the others, startled from their sleep, 
half armed, confused, and unacquainted with the country, were 
conquered almost without resistance. Sarsfield loaded the can- 
non to the muzzle and buried them deep in the earth, heaping 
over them stones, carriages and wagons. He then laid a train 
to the whole, and drawing off his men fired it on his retreat. 
The explosion was heard at the distance of many miles. Lanier 



History of Ireland. 189 

and his party came up in time to witness the work of destruc- 
tion. They attempted an attack on Sarsfield's rear, but were so 
roughly handled they fled in dismay, and the whole Irish part)^ 
returned to Limerick without loss. 

The editor of the /m// Wor/d, in his paper dated September 
1 6, 1874, describing Sarsfield's midnight ride, says: "William's 
army lay before IJmerick. He sat down before it confident of 
an easy victory. An old wall, flanked with a few tottering tow- 
ers, without ditch or parapet, was its only defence. The 
Dutch usurper placed his batteries around it, and kept up an 
incessant fire day and night. The garrison, though far inferior 
in number and guns to the enemy, made a bold defence, and the 
Limerick boys pointed their guns with such precision that the 
English were forced to retire out of range of their batteries. 
These Irish gunners had the audacity to fire on the "Royal 
tent," killing several of William's body guard, and William fear- 
ing his own body might become a target for some of their balls, 
fled from his royal tent, leaving his hat behind him, and kept 
running to a safe distance, where he sat down to await the arrival, 
of his heavy siege train from Waterford. He knew it was on 
■ the way, and with frowning brow he looked toward Limerick, 
and mentally resolved to pay back with interest the delicate 
attentions he had received from the garrison within its walls. 
Coming to his aid was a splendid battering train, with great stores 
of ammunition, pontoon boats to cross the Shannon, and every- 
thing necessary to bring the stubborn old city to terms. 

" On Monday the nth of August, 1690, the train and its con- 
voy reached Ballyneety, within a few miles of the English camp. 
They were now within cannon sound of twenty thousand of 
their friends, and laid down in fancied security for the night. 
But there was one hovering on their flank all the way from 
Cashell watching their every movement. There was an O'Hagan 
on their track, and before their camp fires were lighted, Sarsfield 
with five hundred horse, guided by O'Hagan, lay ambushed 
among the bushes ready to pounce down upon the soldiers of 
William. 

* ' Sarsfield had obtained the password for the night from one 



190 History of Ireland. 

of the English soldiers' wives, whom they had cruelly deserted 
on the road. And it is a curious fact, bordering on romance, 
that the password for the night was his own name, Sarslield. 
The camp was now still, the sentry walked his lonely beat gazing 
on the stars, when a bold rider advanced. The sentry, overcom- 
ing his fears, raised his musket and demanded the password for 
the night. ' Sarsfield is the word, and Sarsfield is the man, ' 
replied the Irish general, and dashed into the center of the Eng- 
lish camp, followed by five hundred horsemen, whose wild cheers 
awoke, the enemy from their slumbers. The story is soon told. 
William's convoy was slain almost to a man. A few escaped 
to tell the sad tale in the camp before Limerick. But ere the 
fugitives had arrived, William felt a shock as if an earthquake 
rocked the ground, and saw a flame ascend heavenward, and he 
knew that his siege train, guns, pontoons, convoy and all, had 
perished. He immediately sent out a large body of horse to 
intercept Sarsfield, but the brave general and his men arrived 
safely in Limerick. The garrison and the people turned out to 
meet him, strewing flowers at his feet, while the Limerick boys 
on the walls of the city sent an Irish salute in the shape of solid 
round-shot into William's camp. 

"William, now gnashing his teeth in madness, ordered six 
thousand of his best troops to storm the walls. They were 
driven back with half their number slain, and William, despair- 
ing of conquering Limerick, fled in haste next day to England." 

In the same number of the Irish World, " Sarsfield's Mid- 
night Ride" is woven into verse so beautifully that I have con- 
cluded to copy it in full. 

Erin's history still is ringing, with brave deeds of olden time, 
Deeds that tell of Ireland's glory, England's treachery and crime ; 
But of all the deeds of daring which our people name with pride, 
None excel nor many equal Patrick Sarsfield's midnight ride. 

"William and his Brandenburgers lay encamped round Limerick town, 
High above his serried bayonets flew the flag of England's crown ; 
Proudly on the walls before him Sarsfield and his comrades stand, 
And in all its pride and glory floats the green flag of onr land. 



History of Ireland. 191 



From the English lines advancing came a soldier of the crown, 
And in William's name demanded the surrender of the town, 
Soon upon the wall appearing brave Sarsfield did reply, 
'' Go tell the Dutch usurper we will hold it till we die." 

Darkly frowned the haughty tyrant when this answer was conveyed, 
And a vow of deadly hatred in his anger then he made, 
And he swore that Limerick city should a heap of ruins lie, 
And that every brave defender on its battlements should die. 

Long he waited in impatience, watching for his great siege train 
To batter down the brave old town, but watched for it in vain. 
It never reached old Limerick's walls, nor yet the Shannon side. 
For brave Sarsfield's troopers found it on their famous midnight ride. 

A brave son of Tipperary saw it coming on the way, 
And hard and fast to bear the news he rode the livelong day; 
When he reached the Shannon's vv^aters to the Irish chief he hied. 
And soon from out the nearest gate five hundred horsemen ride. 

Away, o'er mountain, moor and heath, they gallop on amain, 

Until they see the foe encamped on Ballyneety's plain ; 

All silently they ride along until they neared the foe. 

And, like demons, dashed upon them with shout and sabre blow. 

In the front rode gallant Sarsfield as upon the camp they bore; 
"The watchword! " cried the sentry, he is stricken down in gore; 
The watchword it is Sarsfield, and Sarsfield he is here, 
And his good broadsword v^ent crashing through a Saxon grenadier. 

From their slumbers rudely wakened to their feet the English sprang 
Roused by the tumult in the camp, shouts and swords that round them rang. 

They wake, but gleaming sabres fall upon their heads like rain, 
Till the Saxon foes are slaughtered, and is captured William's train. 

Now back to camp rejoicing, the Irish ride away. 

When hark ! a flame lights up the plain with the glare and blaze of day ; 

A sound like earthquake shock is heard, and wakes the Saxon foe, 

As hurled in air by Irish hands trains, guns, and mortars go, 

The sound was heard in Limerick, and upon the ramparts high 
The Irish soldiers saw the flame illume the midnight sky. 



192 History of Ireland. 

And the bristling wall resounded with the shouts of joyous men, 
When back to town by morning light their chief returned again. 

a 
In the page of Ireland's story those gallant deeds are sung, 

They're told by the aged and hoary to the children fair and young, 

From the glens of County Antrim to the Shannon's rushing tide, 

The deeds are told of these troopers bold and Sarstield's midnight ride. 

And now kind reader, since I have been quoting the sayings 
of others, let me tell you what Macauley, in the second volume 
and fortieth page of his History of England, tells John Bull 
when speaking of these same Irish who were then fighting so 
bravely and against such fearful odds the enemies of their race 
and creed. And you will also please remember that John Bull 
believes every word of it. He says ' ' the grievance of the Irish 
Catholic had hardly anything in common with the grievance of 
the English Catholic. The English Catholic had only to turn 
Protestant, and he was on a level with his neighbors, but if the 
Irish Catholics had turned Protestants they would still have 
continued to be a subject people. Whatever evils the Catholics 
of England suffered were the effect of harsh legislation, and 
might be remedied, but between the two populations who inhab- 
ited Ireland there was an inequality which laws had not caused 
and could not remove. The dominion which one party held 
over the other in Ireland was the dominion of wealth over pov- 
erty, of knowledge over ignorance, of civilized over uncivilized 
man." 

Macauley also says, in speaking of the battle of the Boyne, 
after calling the Irish soldiers a mob of cow-stealers, "that 
whole regiments flung away arms, colors and cloaks, and scam- 
pered off to the hills without striking a blow or firing a shot." 
Now to Americans who know how bravely Irishmen have fought 
in the war of the Revolution, and in the Union and Ccnfcderate 
armies in the late war, it is not necessary to say this is not so. 
And as for the charge of cowstealing, English historians know 
that all the lands claimed or owned by either English or Scotch- 
men were stolen either by themselves or their ancestors. 



History of Ireland. 193 

Now let us see about this inequality in Ireland, which laws 
had not. caused and could not remove. And here we have the 
Statute book of England to refer to, and in it we find the follow- 
ing cruelties, miscalled law : First, it stripped the peers of their 
right to sit in Parliament, or be chosen members of the House 
of Commons. It took from all the right to vote at elections, 
and double taxed all who refused to abjure their religion and thus 
become an apostate. It shut them out from all offices of honor 
or trust, even the most insignificant. It fined them at the rate 
of twenty pounds sterling a month for keeping away from that 
church to go to which they deemed apostacy. It disabled them 
from keeping arms in their houses for their defence, from main- 
taining suits at law, from being guardians or executors, from 
practicing law or physic, from traveling five miles from their 
houses — and all these under heavy penalties in case of disobe- 
dience. If a married woman kept away from the Protestant 
Church, she forfeited two-thirds of her dower. She could not 
be executrix to her husband, and in his lifetime could be im- 
prisoned for being absent from the law church, unless being 
ransomed by him at ten pounds a month. It enabled any four 
justices of the peace, in case any man did not attend the law 
church, to call him before them and compel him to abjure his 
religion, or if he refused to sentence him for life (without judge 
or jury), and if he returned he was to suffer death. It also 
enabled any two justices of the peace to call before them, with- 
out any information, any man they chose, above sixteen years 
of age, and if he refused to abjure the Catholic religion, and 
continued to refuse for six months, he was rendered incapable 
of possessing land, and any land which might belong to him 
came into possession of the next Protestant heir. It made this 
man incapable of purchasing any property, and all contracts 
made by him or for him were null and vofd. It imposed a fine 
of ten pounds a month for employing a Catholic schoolmaster 
in a private family, and two pounds a day on the teacher so 
employed. It imposed one hundred pounds fine for sending a 
child to a foreign Catholic school, and the child so sent was dis- 
abled from ever inheriting or purchasing property. It punished 



194 History of Ireland. 

the celebrating of Mass by a fine of one hundred and twenty 
pounds, and the hearing of Mass by a fine of sixty pounds. 
Any Catholic clergyman who returned from banishment, and 
who did not abjure his religion in three days afterwards, and 
also any person who returned to the old faith after promising 
to be a Protestant, or advised another to return to it, this mer- 
ciless code punished with hanging, ripping out of bowels and 
quartering. These cruel laws, which only demons could invent, 
consisted of more than one hundred acts of Parliament, all 
made to punish men, because, and only because, they held the 
religion in which their fathers lived and died during nine hun- 
dred years. 

Now, kind reader, let us ventilate this charge of ignorance 
which Macauley makes against Irish Catholics. The penal laws 
enacted by Protestants against the Catholics of Ireland, con- 
tained, among other violations of all the laws of justice and 
humanity, the following : A Catholic schoolmaster, private or 
public, was punished, first by imprisonment, banishment, and 
finally as a felon. The Catholic clergy were outlawed, and re. 
wards were given out of the revenue, raised partly of the Catholics, 
for discovering them. 

The price offered, not for the apprehension, mind you, but 
for the head of an archbishop or bishop, was fifty pounds, about 
two hundred and fifty dollars of American money ; twenty 
pounds for a priest, and ten pounds for a schoolmaster. Now 
any person at all acquainted with the savage nature of the low 
class of Irish Protestants need not be told of the cruelties com- 
mitted in these evil days. The black and bloody crimes of these 
benighted bigots still survive, and the Orangemen of to-day 
keep the evil of past ages still alive. Taylor says that in the 
last half of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth 
century, priest hunting was a favorite field-sport in Ireland. 

Any two justices of the peace might call before them any 
Catholic and oblige him to declare under oath when and where 
he last heard Mass, who were present, and the name and resi- 
dence of the priest or schoolmaster that he might know of; and 
if he refused to obey this inhuman inquisition, they had power 



History of Ireland. 195 

to condemn him without judge or jury to a years' imprisonment 
in a felon's jail, or pay a fine of twenty pounds. No Catholic 
could purchase any land, nor hold under lease more than a few 
years. Any Protestant, if he suspected anyone of holding prop- 
erty in trust for a Catholic, might file a bill against the suspected 
trustee and take the property from him. Any Protestant know- 
ing a Catholic to hold a farm, the product of which exceeded 
the amount of the rent by more than one-third, might dispos- 
sess the Catholic and enter on the lease in his stead. Any Prot- 
estant seeing a Catholic riding a horse worth more than five 
pounds, might take the horse away from him by tendering him 
five pounds. And in order to prevent the smallest chance of 
justice in these and similar cases, none but known Protestants 
were allowed on juries in these cases. The property of a Protest- 
ant whose heirs at law were Catholics, was to go to the nearest 
Protestant relation. If a Protestant having an estate in Ireland 
was to marry a Catholic, in or out of Ireland, the marriage was 
illegal. All marriages between Catholics and Protestants were 
annulled, though many children may have been born of them. 
Any priest who celebrated a marriage between a Catholic and 
a Protestant, or between two Protestants, was condemned to be 
hanged. A Catholic father could not be guardian of his own 
child. If that child pretended to be a Protestant, it was taken 
from the father and given to a Protestant. If any child of a 
Catholic became a Protestant, the parent was to be summoned 
and made to declare upon oath the full value of his or her prop- 
erty, and the court of chancery was to make such distribution 
of the property as it saw fit. Wives be obedient to your hus- 
bands, says the Scriptures. Wives be disobedient to them, 
says these cruel laws, for if the wife of a Catholic only pretended 
to turn Protestant she got all his possessions in spite of him, 
however immoral, however bad a wife or bad a mother she may 
have been. Honor thy father and thy mother, saith the Lord. 
Dishonor them said this savage code, for if any one of the sons 
of a Catholic father, however dissipated, pretended to become 
a Protestant, this son was to possess all the father had, and this 
law took good care that the father could not sell or mortgage, 



196 History of Ireland. 

and that none of his property should go to the other children 
should they continue to be Catholics. And lastly, though this 
is a small part of these cruel laws, this church by law estab- 
lished having failed by fines, racks and tortures, now offers thirty 
pounds a year for life to any Catholic priest who would abjure 
his religion and declare his belief in hers. 

Americans, is there a man, a single man, bearing that name, 
whose blood will not chill at this recital, when he reflects 
that these barbarities were inflicted on men because, and only 
because, they adhered with fidelity to the faith of their fathers ! 
As to the injustice, barbarity and immorality of the above laws, 
they call for no comment. They are condemned by the voice 
of Nature herself But among these laws there are two that we 
may ask whether the love of truth, whether a desire to eradicate 
religious error, could have formed any part of the motives of 
these lawmakers. These two are the reward offered to Catho- 
lic priests to induce them to become perjurers; and the terrible 
means made use of to prevent the marriage of Catholics and 
Protestants. Could these men have sincerely believed that their 
religion was supported by any proofs as strong as those by which 
the Catholic religion was supported ? Their church had all the 
power, all the honors, and, as Macauley says, all the wealth. 
And it, in addition to all these, she had felt strong in argument 
would she have found it necessary to offer, in direct and bare- 
faced words, a specific sum of money to anyone who would join 
her, and that too when the guilty pensioned convert must, as 
she well knew, break his solemn vow in order to be entitled to 
the pay. Cobbett says: "Talk of the fires of Smithfield ! 
Fires indeed which had no justification, and which all Catholics 
sincerely condemn ; but what, good God ! was the death of two 
hundred persons, however cruel and unmerited that death, to 
the torments above described, inflicted upon millions of people, 
to say nothing of the thousands upon thousands of Catholics 
who were during that period racked to death, killed in prison, 
hanged and quartered. Besides, let it not be forgotten that the 
punishments in Smithfield were for the purpose of making exam- 
ples of a few who set at naught the religion of their fathers and 



History of Ireland. 197 

that in which they had been born. And if these punishments 
were cruel, as all men agree they were, what shall we say of, 
or how shall we express our abhorrence of, the above penal code, 
which was for the punishment not of a few but of millions of 
the people ; not of those who had apostatized from the religion 
of their fathers, but of those who to their worldly ruin adhered 
to that religion ? " 

'If we find no justification, and none there was, for the punish- 
ments in Mary's reign, inflicted, as all men know they were, on 
very few persons, and those persons for the most part either 
traitors, or at least, conspirators against the throne and person 
of the Queen — if we can find no justification, and all agree 
that there were none, for these punishments inflicted during a 
a few months, after the quelling of a rebellion, which had clearly 
proved that apostate and conspirator were one and the same, 
which led to the hasty conclusion that Protestantism must be 
extirpated or it would destroy the throne. Now, if we can find 
no justification for these, what can we say of barbarities pre- 
meditated in the absence of all provocation, executed in cold 
blood and persevered in for ages ; inflicted not on apostates, but 
on those who refused to apostatize, and as if we were never to 
come to the end of the atrocity — all this done in flagrant breach 
of a solemn treaty. 

It will no doubt be said by some, why at this time revive the 
memory of wrongs that can have no remedy. And certainly if 
it were for no better purpose than to stir up the embers and 
rouse the flame which has burned in Ireland so fiercely and 
destructively, it would be reprehensible ; but there is more safety 
in truth than in concealment, especially, as Macauley and other 
English historians have told the world, that Irishmen are poor, 
ignorant and uncivilized. And were we to admit these charges, 
or at least that of poverty, 'tis well known that confiscation and 
oppression on the part of England was the cause, and the only 
cause, of their poverty. 'Tis also well known to the readers of 
history that Ireland excelled in learning when the English were 
savage barbarians. Dean Swift, an Irish wit, and, besides, a 
Protestant clergyman, says : 



198 History of Ireland. 

"Know this, proud England, that this land of mine, 
Hath taught thee knowledge, human and divine." 

Another nameless Irish wit says : 

" Dean Swift says John learned all he knew from Pat, 
Not how to steal, 'twas instinct taught him that." 

WilHam could not bear the humiliation of raising the siege of 
Limerick. Two of his cannon having escaped Sarsfield, with 
these he determined if possible to effect a breach. After an 
incessant fire for several days the wall at length began to yield, 
and a breach was made. A storming party was formed. Five 
hundred British grenadiers, supported by Dutch guards and 
some English regiments, drew up under cover of their entrench- 
ments, and about three o'clock in the afternoon were ready to 
start on their hazardous enterprise. These preparations had not 
escaped the notice of the garrison. The fire from the walls and 
that from the English batteries ceased. A perfect stillness 
reigned in the camp and in the city. There was a brief space 
of deep and awful silence — a prelude to the work of death and 
destruction. The sun shone with unusual brightness in a cloud- 
less sky ; not a breeze rippled the broad expanse of the Shan- 
non; nature seemed by this tranquility to dissuade the English 
from the carnage they were about to commence. 

Three cannon shot in rapid succession gave the fatal signal. 
The grenadiers leaped from their entrenchments and rushed to- 
wards the breach, firing their muskets and hurling their grenades. 
The Irish opened on them from the walls a perfect hailstorm of 
shot. The English batteries answered with a heavy fire to divert 
the attention of the garrison. The storming party hurried on, 
and were soon engaged hand to hand with their enemies outside 
the breach. The grenadiers forced their way and part of them 
entered the town, but the Irish closed their ranks behind them 
and effectually checked the advance of the rest. Those in the 
town were all destroyed. The citizens fell upon them, and only 
a few desperately wounded succeeded in getting back to the 
outside. The breach was again assailed, and again defended 
with the same determined spirit. Crowds of women mingled 



History of Ireland. 199 

with the soldiers and fought as bravely as the men. They re- 
proached William's soldiers with nameless crimes, of which they 
had been guilty, and vowed, in their nervous language, to be 
torn in piece-meal before they would submit to such wretches. 
For three hours this contest was maintained with equal obsti- 
nacy. A regiment of Brandenburgers seized an Irish battery, 
but in a moment the magazine took fire and they were all blown 
into the air. William now saw that success was hopeless, as 
the Irish not only drove the soldiers out of Limerick, but pur- 
sued them with fixed bayonets to his very camp, to the great 
disappointment of William, who rebuked them with bitterness, 
telling them that with half their number of Irish troops he could 
drive them off the Island. 

Burnett, Macauley and Froude might learn a lesson by know- 
ing what Irishmen, when well disciplined and commanded, were 
able to do. 

William raised the siege after all his cannon had played inces- 
santly on Limerick for fourteen days. The army decamped in 
great disorder, after setting fire to the houses in which their 
sick and wounded lay, an act of unparalelled cruelty. William 
now, after having lost about three thousand of his troops, dis- 
armed his batteries and led away his diminished army, accom- 
panied by a miserable troop of Protestants who could no longer 
remain in their former homes, and were wholly without protec- 
tion from the indiscriminate ravages of a licentious soldiery. 
The excesses of William's army during this retreat can scarcely 
be paralelled in the annals of war or crime. After retreating 
to Clonmel, William fled to Duncannon and thence to England. 

" In his flight he left behind him all his commissary stores, 
Large wagons heavy laden with the wealth of foreign shores, 
Breadstuff and meat, delicious fruits and foaming Spanish wine, 
At England's cost the Irish host quite sumptuously did dine." 

William, on landing in England, found much discontent. 
Even the successes he had gained afforded no pleasure to the peo- 
ple, for they now looked on him as a foreigner. They wanted 
an English hero, who might prove a rival of William, and such 
they found in 



200 History of Ireland. 

THE EARL OF MARLBOROUGH, 

who, though now opposed to James, owed to that unhappy 
King all his greatness, though his wealth was the price of his 
sister's virtue. Marlborough proposed to the English govern- 
ment to undertake the conquest of Cork and Kinsale, and thus 
complete the reduction of the southeast of Ireland. William, 
though aware that this proposal was designed for his own mor- 
tification, could not venture to resist, and yielded a reluctant 
assent. 

On the 2 1st of September, 1690, Marlborough arrived in the 
harbor of Cork, where no preparation had been made for resist- 
ance. He landed almost without opposition and marched toward 
the city by the Passage road. He was soon joined by nine hun- 
dred horse soldiers, dispatched by Ginkle. These were followed 
by four thousand infantry under the command of the Duke of 
Wirtemberg, sent by William to claim a share in the victory. 
Wirtemberg, through William, claimed the chief command, 
but Marlborough insisted that the command had been confided 
to himself, and would not allow his right to be disputed by the 
Dutchman. After much hot blood, a reconciliation was effected 
by their friends. It was agreed that each one should command 
in turn on alternate days, or, as is said in Ireland, day about. 
The siege of Cork was an enterprise of more importance than 
difficulty. The city is built on a marshy plain, surrounded and 
commanded by hills. The walls were in bad repair, and the 
Castle of Shandon, by which the city is commanded on the 
northern side, was so dilapidated that it was at once resigned to 
the besiegers. The garrison had therefore no hope of success, 
but they determined to make such a defence as would entitle 
them to favorable terms of capitulation. The batteries which 
Marlborough had planted on the south side of the river soon 
made a breach, but the assault was not void of hazard. Between 
the camp and the city the Lee, fordable only at low water, runs, 
and beyond that lay a marsh, now built over, which served as 
a counterscarp to the fortifications. A breach being effected, 
Brigadier-General MacElligot, who commanded the garrison, 



History of Ireland. 201 

oftci ed to surrender the city on condition that the troops should 
march out with their flags flying, and that their arms and stores 
be conveyed to Limerick. Marlborough, anxious to show his 
superiority over William, insisted that the garrison should be- 
come prisoners of war. Wirtemberg as strongly recommended 
compliance with the governor's demands. While the generals 
wasted time in this dispute, the tide flowed and the ford was 
no longer passable, and the firing was resumed on both sides. 
Orders were now given for a storming party to be formed. Sev- 
eral English officers volunteered their services on the occasion, 
among others the Duke of Grafton, the most respectable of the 
natural children of Charles the Second. The English troops 
passed through the river and formed a lodgment on the marsh 
not far from the walls. Here the Duke of Grafton was killed. 
The place where he fell is called Grafton alley, now in the heart 
of the city. The garrison now surrendered as prisoners of war, 
on condition that persons and property should be respected. 
The ink with which the capitulation was signed was scarcely dry 
when it was violated in every particular. A mob of Protestants 
assembled and began to plunder the houses of the Catholic 
citizens. The brutal English soldiers were not slow in imitating 
these robberSj and a dreadful scene of licentious cruelty ensued. 
The governor was wounded, and the Earls of Tyrone and Clan- 
earthy could scarcely escape with their lives. And these dis- 
graceful proceedings continued until an immense amount of 
property was destroyed. 

From Cork Marlborough advanced to Kinsale. To avoid the 
cruelties of a siege the town was abandoned, and the garrison 
retired to Fort Charles, where they made a formidable resist- 
ance, and Marlborough was forced to offer them terms he had 
refused to Cork. They were to march with their flags and arms 
to Limerick. 

The merits of this campaign were not very great, but when 
contrasted with William's disgraceful flight from Limerick grati. 
fied the pride of John Bull, who in those days received small 
favors very gratefully, especially if they came from Ireland. 

The French troops were now withdrawn from Ireland, James 



202 History of Ireland. 

having told the French King that the further protraction of the 
war was useless. How great are the accumulated wrongs the 
Irish have suffered from the Stuarts ! The first James robbed 
the natives of Ulster of their lands on account of a conspiracy 
that never existed, and for which, even if it had existed, they 
could not be answerable. The first Charles gave the nation as 
a sacrifice to glut the fanatical Puritans, in the hope to divert 
their attention from himself while they stole the property of the 
Irish. The second Charles joined in the robbery of those Irish 
who had devoted their lives to his service, and gave their estates 
to the Cromwellian adventurers. And now the second James, 
having prevented them from making an honorable peace, labored 
to destroy their chances of waging a successful war, and, as far 
as he was concerned, devoted them to ruin. 

The Irish witnessed the departure of the French without re- 
gret. Relying on the ability of their favorite general, Sarsfield, 
they still hoped for victory, and looked forward with well- 
grounded confidence to the final result, though knowing their 
enemy outnumbered them two to one. Ginkle, after the taking 
of Cork, determined to harrass the Irish with a winter campaign, 
and sent a part of his troops to subdue the western part of the 
county of Cork and the county of Kerry. The plan completely 
failed. The English were driven back with heavy loss, but they 
suffered most from the operations of the irregular troops. Sars- 
field's cavalry swept the country round their camp, surprised 
their detachments and captured their convoys. Numbers of the 
peasantry, driven from their homes by the violence of the Eng- 
lish soldiers, formed themselves into corps called, from the pikes 
with which they were armed, rapparees. They carried off every- 
thing within the English lines to their fastnesses in the bogs and 
mountains, and their cunning and agility rendered pursuit im- 
possible. To oppose these the English authorized the forma- 
tion of Protestant rapparees, and thus increased the calamity, 
for these new corps of robbers were employed more in securing 
plunder for themselves than in checking the inroads of the Irish. 
Ginkle began to despair. He wrote to William, explaining his 
situation, and declaring his belief that if conciliatory measures 



History of Ireland. 203 

were adopted, and justice done to the Irish, the war might easily 
be terminated, but the dread of confiscation compelled the Irish 
to resist even against their will. William himself entertained 
the same opinions, and would willingly have granted liberal 
terms to the Irish, but the bigoted Protestant party in and around 
the Castle, who had ever been the bane of Ireland, possessed 
more power than William himself, and frustrated his intentions. 
The remembrance of the game of the Cromwellian robbers was 
strong in the recollection of these political Protestants. And 
to win estates for themselves, by the same abominable means, 
was the object of these canting hypocrites. They played with 
sure cards ; the hazard and danger of the war fell on the army ; 
England bore the expense, and they trusted to monopolize all 
the spoils of the victory. To those who know how often the 
same game has been played in Ireland, there can be no necessity 
to furnish any proofs of this infamous policy ; but to others the 
following extract from a letter written by Ginkle will disclose 
some part of the iniquity which was sanctioned, under the pre- 
tence of its being necessary to protect the Protestant interest: 

"I did very much hope," he says, "that some fair and just 
-terms might be offered to the Irish army, to save the cost of a 
field of battle. But I see our civil officers regard more adding 
fifty pounds to the English proprietary in Ireland, than saving 
England the expense of fifty thousand pounds. I promise my- 
self that it is for the King's, the allies' and England's interests 
to remit all the forfeitures, so that we could bring these people 
under their majesties' obedience." 

This prudent advice was unheeded, and Ireland was delivered 
over to the government of a merciless faction, whose boast was 
that they wasted her resources and baffled the bounties of Provi- 
dence. Nor did England escape. The Irish war laid the foun- 
dation of the national debt, which has been ever since a burden 
on her resources, for in the dispensations of heaven there is a 
punishment for the sins of nations as well as individuals. It 
appears from a report made to the English House of Commons 
that William and his Protestant followers, all exclusively loyal, 
remember, robbed the Irish people of 1,060,000 acres of land, 



204 History of Ireland. 

and turned 3,921 persons out of their homes to beg or starve. 
These lands were valued at that day at three million three hun- 
dred thousand pounds sterling — a prize well worthy the attention 
of these very Protestant gentlemen, especially when without any 
risk of their own they could contend for it with the blood of 
foreigners and the wealth of England. The way these political 
Protestants proceeded, is an edifying example of the mode by 
which the forms of law have been so often prostituted to sanction 
injustice in Ireland. They indicted the Irish gentleman for high 
treason who held an estate in the counties where they had juris- 
diction, and then to the Court of King's Bench in Dubhn. By 
this ingenious contrivance those they meant to rob lost all 
opportunity of making their defence — indeed, in most cases 
they were ignorant of being accused, and the government was 
saved the trouble of showing how the Irish people could be 
guilty of treason in supporting the cause of their rightful King 
against a foreign invader. They felt that this could not be proved* 
and we must give them due credit for the prudent modesty of 
their silence. 

During the winter rumors of plots and conspiracies were rife 
in Dublin. They served as an excuse for issuing some very 
severe proclamations against Catholics, and many of them were 
got up for that purpose. The pamphlets of those days furnish 
us with some strange instances of clumsy fabrications, which in 
that day were readily believed. The proclamations were precious 
specimens of English legislation in Ireland. They first declared 
that the popish residents of counties should be assessed to make 
good the losses of Protestants within said counties. This plan 
of making the innocent suffer for the guilty, has enabled many 
Protestants to convert old houses into new, and sell stacks of 
poor oats at the price for good, by firing their own house or 
barns. The second edict declared that no Papist should be pro- 
tected who had a son in the Irish army, his property was lawful 
plunder, A third proclamation ordered that no more than ten 
Catholics should meet together, and sentenced the priest where 
more met to transportation, 

Ginkle was hated for his opposition to this dreadful system of 



History of Ireland. 205 

slaughter and confiscation, which he looked upon as nothing 
better than murder and robbery. He asked the Lords-Justices 
to offer the Irish protection, in person and property, on their 
submission, but the desire of forfeitures was too strong; they 
equivocated, and finally flatly refused. The defeat of the Eng- 
lish at Athlone and Limerick convinced the French King that 
James had too soon abandoned Ireland, and he sent over a few 
officers, but only made such exertions as would serve to protract 
the war, when ten thousand men, a force he could easily spare, 
would have drove the English to their ships and gave him pos- 
session of Ireland. But with unwise caution he hesitated until 
it was too late. The wretched James could not resist the oppor- 
tunity of insulting the Irish, even in this crisis of their fate. 
Though the late defeats of the English were owing to the gallant 
Sarsfield, he would not honor him with the command of the 
army, but conferred it on the French general. Saint Ruth. Such 
an insult to the favorite hero of the Irish was poorly compen- 
sated by the title of Earl of Lucan, which James conferred on 
Sarsfield. 

The manners of Saint Ruth were far from conciliatmg ; he 
treated the Irish generals with contempt, and when they offered 
advice, pursued a line of conduct the reverse of what they 
recommended. The time was spent in idle reviews that should 
have been spent preparing for the campaign. The chief cause 
of his negligence was his having found the Irish army much 
better organized than he expected, and his belief that the line 
of the Shannon was impregnable. Had he paid proper atten- 
tion to its defence, he might, behind it, defied all the strength 
of England. The Irish officers could not suppress their indig- 
nation at being forced to serve under a general that they despised, 
and in some of their letters, written about this time, we find 
them bitterly complaining of their fate, because the sovereign 
to whom they owed allegiance could not in return secure them 
life and estate. Ginkle's preparations for the ensuing campaign 
showed how deeply he was impressed with its importance. He 
obtained large re-enforcements from England, an additional train 
of artillery, and a large supply of military stores. He drew in 



206 History of Ireland. 

most of his garrisons, and even brought all his soldiers from 
Dublin to strengthen his army for the coming struggle. The 
Lords-Justices and the castle party complained bitterly of being 
left exposed to danger, but Ginkle would probably have not been 
sorry to learn that the Wicklow mountaineers had made a raid 
on Dublin in the absence of the army and removed forever these 
obstacles to an honorable peace. The Irish garrisons east of 
the Shannon were easily subdued, but the treatment of the 
prisoners was a question of more difficulty. It had not been 
settled whether the Irish were enemies or rebels, and all the 
bigoted Protestants held that their lives should not be spared 
when they were taken. Ginkle, though not in all cases, now 
leaned to mercy, but the Cromwellians were never troubled with 
scruples. Though the Irish were fighting for their lawful King, 
they were called rebels by these robbers, and therefore they 
hanged them on every occasion without ceremony. Such has 
been the habit of the Cromwellians in every subsequent in- 
stance. 

Contrary to the advice of the Irish leaders. Saint Ruth had 
fortified the town of Athlone, on the east bank of the Shannon. 
It had been resigned as defenceless in the former campaign by 
Colonel Grace and the imperfect repairs which it now received 
were insufficient to sustain the heavy fire of the English bat- 
teries. 

On the 1 8th of June, Ginkle appeared before Athlone, and 
advanced toward the town, driving in the Irish skirmishing 
parties. He opened a heavy fire from a battery of ten guns 
on the English part of the town, and soon effected a breach. 
After a fierce resistance the place was taken by assault, but the 
garrison retreated to the Irish town and broke down the bridge 
behind them. 

The loss the English had sustained in obtaining even this par- 
tial success, filled Ginkle with anxiety. He immediately sent 
for re-enforcements, and erected several batteries, from which 
he poured an overwhelming fire on the devoted Irish town of 
Athlone. Now the Irish returned the fire with great spirit, 
though their cannon was far inferior to that of the English. 



History of Ireland. 207 

Night brought no respite to either besiegers or besieged. It was 
midsummer; the weather was fine, and in the clear sky the ex- 
treme evening nearly touched the morning dawn. Athlone was 
soon a heap of ruins, but the garrison retired not from these 
ruins, and defended the shapeless mass of broken fortifications 
as fiercely as if they were perfect defences. An attempt was 
made by the English to force a passage of the river at Lanes- 
borough, but the pass was too well guarded, and they were driven 
oft with heavy loss. Ginkle saw that his only hope was to force a 
passage by the bridge. He erected a breastwork on his side of 
the bridge, and directed all the fire of his batteries on the works 
the Irish had erected on their side. The heat of the weather 
made the wood-work on the Irish side as dry as tinder. They 
took fire from the bursting of a shell, and under cover of the 
smoke the English hastened to lay plank across the broken 
bridge. The work was almost finished, when ten Irish soldiers 
sprang over the ruins and began to destroy the newly-formed 
passage. For a moment the English paused in admiration of the 
heroic attempt ; in a moment more a discharge from the Eng- 
lish battery swept them off the bridge and from the world. A 
second party succeeded those and completed the destruction of 
the bridge, under the furious discharge of the English guns, and 
only two of them returned to the town alive. Nine days were 
spent by Ginkle in preparing for a second attempt. The Irish 
watched his preparations and were prepared for his reception. 
The attack had but commenced when a grenade from the Irish 
lines set fire to the English breastworks, and all the pontoons, 
galleries and works which Ginkle had so laboriously prepared, 
were burned to ashes. Saint Ruth, the French general who 
commanded the Irish, was intoxicated with success. He re- 
moved the brave defenders of Athlone, and filled their place 
with raw regiments. He issued invitations to all the gentry in 
the neighborhood, and gave them a splendid entertainment, fol- 
lowed by a ball in the camp, as if there was no longer any dan- 
ger. 

In the English camp there was great alarm. Ginkle called a 
council of war, where it was warmly debated whether the army 



208 History of Ireland. 

should retreat or make a second assault. Ginkle's opinion was 
for immediate retreat, but he was persuaded by his officers to 
make an attempt to ford the Shannon in the morning. The news 
of Saint Ruth's absurd confidence, which he learned from his 
spies, encouraged the English, and to increase it they began to 
withdraw their guns from their batteries, as if preparing for 
flight. The Irish officers were not deceived by these appear- 
ances. They entreated Saint Ruth to be on his guard against 
another attack. He laughed at their cautions, and said the 
English would not dare to attempt it. Sarsfield coolly answered 
that the enterprise was not too difficult for English courage. 
The French general made a contemptuous reply, and Sarsfield, 
justly offended, withdrew. To avoid any appearance of alarm, 
it was ordered to make the attempt at the ordinary hour of re- 
lieving guard ; the signal was the tolling of the church-bell, 
and at the first summons the English soldiers, headed by their 
officers, plunged into the stream. The passage was nearly ef- 
fected before the garrison recovered from their surprise, and 
when they did open their fire it was weak and badly directed — 
for, by the blunders of Saint Ruth, the brave defenders of Ath- 
lone were not now at their posts, and the English pushed forward 
and gained the bank before the regiments in the garrison could 
stand to their arms. In the meantime, Ginkle repaired the 
broken arch, and poured over a large force without opposition. 
In less than an hour Athlone was lost, and Saint Ruth awoke 
to find the place was lost by his presumptuous folly. The garri- 
son retreated to the Irish army, half-armed and half-clad. The 
troops were completely surprised, asthegreater part were asleep 
when the attack was made. Protestants of that day were indig- 
nant that Ginkle did not order his soldiers to kill the sleeping 
men, and some bigots were scandalized at the respect he showed 
to the officers and soldiers of the brave garrison. He learned 
from them that the Irish suspected James of an intention to 
unite Ireland to France, and that they would much rather be 
connected with England if their rights were respected. "It is 
your fault, " they said, "that we are your enemies. We are sen- 
sible of our unhappiness in depending on the French, but you 



History of Ireland. 209 

have made it necessary for us. We must and will fight it out." 
His narrow escape fi-om utter ruin made Ginkle anxious to ter- 
minate the war on equitable conditions. He had a proclama- 
tion issued, setting forth the advantages Ireland would enjoy 
under England rather than France. It offered a free pardon to 
all who would surrender within three weeks ; security in person 
and property to all officers and governors of garrisons, with a 
promise of equal or superior rank in William's army, and a free 
exercise of religion, with such security as Parliament could de- 
vise. 

To destroy this proclamation, the French promised to send a 
powerful fleet and army to assist the Irish. This they no doubt 
meant to do, but the hope of aid would not overcome the oppo- 
sition of the Irish to unite with the French, had not the fre- 
quent breaches of faith by the English in all former cases, and 
in this the greedy desire after forfeiture by the Protestants of 
the north of Ireland. They were, for the most part, men of 
mean birth and obscure parentage, the sons of those who had 
been raised to fortune by the systematic robbery of Cromwell, 
and they felt that they would be humbled, even in their own 
eyes, if compelled to sit on the same bench with the genuine 
aristocracy of Ireland. The conduct of this vile faction led the 
Irish to believe that the English were insincere in their offers, 
and they resolved to abide the chances of the field. 

After the loss of Athlone, Saint Ruth retired to the hill of 
Kilcomeden, in County Rosscommon, and prepared to decide 
the fate of Ireland by a pitched battle. The position was good ; 
the left was protected by a stream, and beyond this lay an ex- 
tensive morass through which there was only one narrow road. 
This passage was commanded by the ruined castle of Aughrim, 
and might easily have been made impregnable. Saint Ruth 
thought it already so. The bog extended to the hills ; a little 
in advance stood the house and grounds of Urachree, which 
were occupied by a party of dragoons. The English army made 
an attack on the 12th of July, at noon. Ginkle ordered the 
Danish horse to force the pass of Urachree, but at the first charge 
from the Irish dragoons they broke and fled. Two regiments of 



210 History of Ireland. 

English dragoons were next led to the charge, but they were 
beaten back with great slaughter, and the regiment of Portland 
next advanced and found that the Irish had taken a better po- 
sition behind the stream which flanked their right wing. Gin- 
kle was alarmed at the determined defence of this post. He 
drew off his men and summoned a council of war. It was at 
first resolved to delay the battle until the following morning, 
but the guns of the Irish soon induced him to change his reso- 
lution. 

At half-past four in the evening the battle commenced. Gin- 
kle pushed some infantry over the ground that had been already 
so well contested. The English were forced to sustain a close 
and heavy fire from the Irish, posted behind hedges that inter- 
sected the hill. Between these hedges the Irish had cut lines 
of communication, so that when they retreated and the English 
advanced, they were exposed to destructive volleys on both 
flanks, and were forced to give ground in their turn. The 
attempt of the enemy to force his right, induced Saint Ruth to 
bring up fresh troops from the center, and Ginkle seized the 
opportunity to cross the bog and attack the front of the Irish 
position. Four regiments were ordered on this service, and 
they waded through the morass with great difficulty, meeting 
no opposition till they reached the foot of the hill. The Irish 
here pursued the same plan that had been successful on the right, 
firing from behind hedges, and retiring until the English became 
entangled in difficult ground, when they poured on them a de- 
structive fire. The English recoiled, but made a stand at the 
edge of the bog. The Irish followed up their success by a 
furious charge. The four regiments were broken and driven by 
the Irish across the bog, quite to the mouth of the English can- 
non. The Irish also made prisoners of nearly all the English 
officers. Two other divisions of the English crossed the bog, 
but they could not be tempted to advance within range of the 
Irish guns. 

Completely successful on the right and center. Saint Ruth, in 
the fullness of his joy, exclaimed, "Now I will drive the Eng- 
lish out of Ireland." 



History of Ireland. 211 

Ginkle's last hope depended on the success of Talmash's cav- 
alry on the left, but that leader had to contend with no ordinary 
difficulty. The pass by the Castle of Aughrim would admit of 
only two horsemen abreast, and it was commanded by a small 
battery, which was, however, badly served. Just as Saint Ruth 
was about to charge the only English division that still held their 
ground, his attention was directed to Talmash's division on the 
left. He expressed regret for their certain destruction, and 
ordered the cavalry to be brought up to attack them as they 
emerged from the defile, and rode himself to direct the fire of 
the battery. 

Ten minutes more would have completed the ruin of the Eng- 
lish army. An attack, however weak, on Talmash's detachment 
must have sealed its ruin. The Irish dragoons had never been 
beaten in any encounter, and now, had they rushed on the Eng- 
lish making their way through a narrow defile, the result could 
not have been doubtful. At this critical moment Saint Ruth 
was slain by a ball from the English cannon beyond the bog. 
The Irish battery ceased firing, the cavalry halted waiting orders, 
and Talmash, seizing the unhoped for opportunity, galloped in 
safety to take a share in the contest at the center. It is impos- 
sible to discover the circumstance that left the Irish without a 
commander after the fall of Saint Ruth. Sarsfield was not in 
the field, for his indignation after the loss of Athlone led to a 
serious quarrel with the French general. No other leader would 
venture to undertake the direction, and the consequence of course 
was fatal. The appearance of Talmash so unexpectedly on the 
left was taken by both armies as a token of victory. The Irish, 
having heard a confused account of some great calamity on the 
left, believed that wing totally defeated. 

The English of course thought that when Talmash ventured 
to ride over the field, they must have obtained some signal 
advantage, or he would not have dared advance so far. The 
remaining divisions of the English now ventured to cross the 
morass and the Irish began to retreat. At first their movements 
were performed with great regularity, but as each battalion now 
acted without orders their evolutions soon interfered with each 



212 History of Ireland. 

other. Cavalry became mixed with infantry, and before even- 
ing closed their retreat became a complete rout. They were 
pursued with great slaughter. Before the death of Saint Ruth 
the Irish lost scarcely a man, while the loss of the English was 
very severe. Now the Irish were cut down in crowds, without 
attempting any resistance. These brutal English soldiers showed 
no mercy to these Irish soldiers who had fought them so bravely 
and at such fearful odds. Ginkle was not much elevated by his 
victory at Aughrim He felt that it was nothing more than a 
lucky escape, and from the spirit shown by the Irish feared that 
the end of the war was far in the future. Neither were the Irish 
dispirited. They felt that victory had been wrested from them 
by chance, and did not despair of success in another field. 

This defeat of the Irish m the midst of victory has been 
regarded by John Bull and his friends as providential — they 
believing themselves the especial favorites of heaven. But there 
are those here in America who think otherwise. These people 
knowing that with Providence it is all now, no yesterday nor 
to-morrow, no past nor future. He seeing all times at a glance, 
saw the great work the Irish were to perform on the continent 
of America, namely : to raise the great emblem of man's salva- 
tion, the cross of the Crucified, high above every other object 
in every city and hamlet on this continent. And they reason 
thus : Had the Irish been victorious in these battles, and re- 
mained a free people, they would have staid in their own land, 
and this great work would have remained undone. 

Ginkle, after his unexpected victory at Aughrim, advanced 
with the main body of his army against Galway. That he was 
not intoxicated with success, appears from the favorable condi- 
tions he granted to the several garrisons which he captured. In 
all cases he allowed them to proceed to Limerick with their arms 
and baggage, and when the garrison of Banaher preferred laying 
down their arms and returning home, he presented them with 
five shillings -to each soldier, as an encouragement to persevere 
in their peaceful intentions. There was but a mere appearance 
of attack and defence at Galway. The city authorities were 



History of Ireland. 213 

anxious to avoid the perils of a siege, and Ginkle was eager to 
terminate the war on any terms. 

The French commander at Galway and the Enghsh general, 
Talmash, were both opposed to terms — the former because he 
hoped the French would soon send over more troops, and the 
latter because he hoped for the chance, in case of forfeitures, to 
steal some of the property of the Irish, as all the civil and mili- 
tary officers of England had invariably done. The lovers of 
peace prevailed. It was agreed that Galway should be surren- 
dered, on conditions of a general pardon for all offences, the 
continuation of the city authorities in their respective offices, 
security of person and property, and perfect freedom of religious 
worship. These terms were strictly observed by Ginkle, a sin- 
gular instance, for in every other case William and his officers 
shamefully violated all articles of capitulation. Ginkle remained 
some time at Galway, hoping that the Irish at Limerick would 
open negotiations for terminating the war. He knew that divided 
counsels were in this their last stronghold, and he chose rather 
to trust to intrigue than hazard the dangers of a doubtful siege. 
The Irish were divided into two parties — one anxious to submit 
if fair terms could be obtained, the other relying on aid from 
France with which they might retrieve their former losses. The 
delay of the looked for assistance from France so weakened the 
latter party that they would not have been able to subsist but 
for the enterprise of the gallant Sarsfield. 

At this time Tryconnell, who held the empty title of Lord- 
Lieutenant, died of a broken heart. He was succeeded by three 
Lords-Justices, Fitton, Nagle and Plowden, who were all inchned 
to submission, but were determined to make no peace that did 
not secure the Catholics in their civil rights and their property 
and freedom of religion. 



CHAPTER YI. 



(xinkle Renews the Siege of Limerick — Finding it Bravely defended, 
Ee Offers Favorable Terms of Peace — The Treaty was Violated, 
Eowever, as Soon as it was Safe To Bo So. 



''^jJ.jHE memory of William's defeat at the former siege of Lim- 
(^ erick seems to have had a strong effect on Ginkle's mind. 
He proceeded with a caution akin to fear. William and his follow- 
ers were now alarmed at the preparations making in France for 
the relief of Ireland, and urged Ginkle to end the war. Not- 
withstanding these exhortations, it was the 25th of August ere 
his army appeared before Limerick. At the same time a fleet 
appeared in the Shannon and came as far up the river as it dare 
venture with safety. The English occupied the same ground 
they held in the former siege. For several days the cannon and 
mortars fired heavy discharges of shot and shell without pro- 
ducing any effect. The city indeed had been several times on 
fire, but it had been extinguished without any alarm. The inhab- 
itants and many of the soldiers, especially the cavalry, encamped 
on the Clare side of the river, and as the town was only invested 
on three sides they suffered no inconvenience from the siege. 
Finding his batteries vere ineffective, Ginkle erected another on 
the riyer, near King's Island. After a fire of three days a breach 
appeared, but the attempt to storm it almost cost him the loss 
of his entire army. Ginkle was almost in despair, and issued 
orders to repair the fortifications of Kilmallock, where he meant 
to take up his winter quarters. The offer of a traitor named 
Clifford induced him to postpone his retreat. 

From the beginning of the siege it was evident that the town 



History of Ireland. 215 

could not be taken while the Clare side lay open to the garrison, 
enabling it to obtain supplies of provisions and recruits. Ginkle 
saw this clearly, but was unable to discover any remedy. The 
passage of the river was by no means easy, and a few determined 
men on the opposite bank could render it impossible. The Irish 
cavalry, who had never been defeated, were on the opposite bank, 
and in order to attack them with any hopes of success, a large 
detachment must be sent over ; and if they were separated from 
the rest of the army, and the garrison should make a sally on 
the English camp, Ginkle's army must have been completely 
ruined. Treachery or surprise was necessary to save him, and 
luckily for him he found both. 

Ginkle now issued orders to dismantle his batteries — an opera- 
tion equally necessary whether he succeeded or failed, for the 
guns were badly placed, and should the siege be continued an 
entire change was necessary to insure success. There was a 
small island in the Shannon, separated from the Clare side by a 
fordable channel, which Ginkle saw was the best place to attempt 
a passage. It was guarded by General Clifford with four regi- 
ments of dragoons ; but this commander had sold out to the 
English, and had promised to resign the pass without opposi- 
tion. The universal tradition of the Irish people is that Colonel 
Henry Lutterell was the person who sold the passage of the 
Shannon to Ginkle ; but he was at the same time in prison in 
Limerick on suspicion of some other treachery. Ginkle con- 
tinued his preparations for raising the siege, and at the same 
time prepared a number of pontoons for carrying his army to 
the island. The garrison of Limerick uttered loud shouts of joy 
when they saw the English dismounting their guns. They were 
persuaded the siege was about to be raised, and this they con- 
sidered a compensation for the disastrous battle of Aughrim. 
On a dark night Ginkle laid his bridge of boats without being 
discovered, and six hundred grenadiers, with a large body of 
horse and foot, passed over to the island in safety and proceeded 
to ford over to the mainland. A sentinel of Clifford's detach- 
ment, not having shared in his leader's treason, offered resist- 
ance, but not being supported was cut down. Clifford, as had 



216 History of Ireland. 

been stipulated, rode off with his troops without even warning 
the Irish army of the enemy's approach. 

The cavalry camp was completely surprised. The greater part 
of the horses were grazing at a distance of two miles, and all 
know the inefficiency of dismounted troopers. The inhabitants 
of the city who were in the camp on the Clare side of the river 
were thrown into confusion. They rushed in crowds to Tho- 
mond bridge, a long, narrow, unsightly structure, and many 
were crushed to death in the passage. Had Ginkle not feared an 
ambuscade, the war might have been ended on that fatal night ; but 
he felt that the garrison might attack the camp during his absence. 
Content with his present success he retired rather precipitately. 
That part of the Irish forces which the English most dreaded, 
was now almost useless from the loss of their saddles and other 
accoutrements. The conduct of the garrison in not making a 
sally during Ginkle's absence was severely censured, but it can 
scarcely be blamed if all the circumstances are considered. The 
passage of the Shannon by the English, and the surprise of the 
camp on the Clare side, proved that there were traitors in their 
camp, and no one knew how far the conspiracy had extended. 

Ginkle now offered the Irish very favorable terms of peace, 
also showing them the advantage of a connection with England 
over that with France. At the same time he secretly intimated 
to Sarsfield that William had become an admirer of his charac- 
ter, and was anxious to purchase his service at almost any price. 
But Sarsiield entertained a chivalrous sense of honor, and a 
romantic spirit of loyalty, rare in all ages, but at this time un- 
paralelled. The offer was refused, and the resistance continued. 
Divisions now reigned in the English councils. The majority 
voted to raise the siege, as William their master had done a year 
ago, and Talmash with difficulty prevailed on Ginkle to order 
another attack, with the understanding that it should be the last 
if not successful. On the 22d of September Ginkle again crossed 
the Shannon with a larger force than before, and attacked the 
Irish posted in front of Thomond bridge. The English were 
beaten back in the first attempt and thrown into confusion, at 
the same time they were exposed to a severe fire from some 



History of Ireland. 217 

gravel pits which the Irish had lined with sharpshooters. The 
failure of the assault seemed certain, when the fate of the day 
was changed by the grenadiers, who made an attack on the Irish 
who defended the bridge. 

This narrow structure was soon heaped with piles of dead, 
forming an obstacle to the advance of the enemy. At length 
the Irish commander who held the Thomond gate ordered the 
drawbridge to be raised and thus left the Irish troops exposed 
to certain ruin. The greater part leaped into the Shannon and 
endeavored to swim to the city. Some succeeded, but many 
were drowned. It was generally believed that the drawbridge 
was raised before it was necessary. No satisfactory reason has 
ever been offered why the garrison of Limerick did not attack 
the English camp while Ginkle was engaged on the Clare side 
of the Shannon. Had they done so, the English army must 
have been irretrievably ruined, for the forces left to guard the 
lines were few and quite inefficient. It probably was not thought 
of until the favorable opportunity was los.t. This small advan- 
tage gained by the English could but slightly improve Ginkle's 
real situation. The Irish had indeed lost heavily, but the Eng- 
lish were far from winning a victory. And there was this differ- 
ence between their losses, the Irish could easily procure recruits 
but Ginkle could not obtain any re-enforcements. 

The raising of Thomond bridge, however, did more for Gin- 
kle than any victory could effect. It determined the Irish army 
to seek peace, because the soldiers thought their brethren had 
been needlessly sacrificed, and the mismanagement of affairs had 
shaken their confidence in their commanders. Though Sarsfield 
was nominally at the head of the army, he was checked by other 
generals, and though he had been the most ultra supporter of 
the Avar party he now began to waver. Another cause was prob- 
ably the not unfounded suspicion that James would send a gen- 
eral by the French fleet to supercede him in command. On the 
23d of September a reluctant assent to a treaty was wrung from 
Sarsfield by the other leaders, and on the evening of that day 
a cessation of arms was granted, to afford an opportunity for 
settling the terms of the capitulation. A message was dispatched 



218 History of Ireland. 

to the Lords-Justices, and it reached them just in time to pre- 
vent the pubHcation of a proclamation offering the Irish leaders 
terms of peace, as full and as honorable as they could have ex- 
pected after a victory. We do not know the exact words in 
this suppressed proclamation, we do know that it granted to the 
Catholics all the rights they have since demanded. On the ist 
of October the Lords-Justices arrived in camp, and on the 3d 
the articles of treaty, prepared by Sir Theobald Butler, were 
solemnly signed by the officers of both parties — Generals Sars- 
field and Ginkle. A large stone on the river bank served them 
for a chair and writing-desk. This stone is now elevated on a 
pedestal, and is religiously guarded by the citizens of Limerick. 
It is also the objective point when Irishmen in America visit 
their native land. 

The Treaty Stone of Limerick, 
What memories of the past 
Ran through my mind as first on it 

My eyes I fondly cast, 
As it stands on Shannon's bank, 
A monument unbuilt, 
Of Irish might, 
And Irish right, 
/ . Of Saxon shame and guilt. 

Five thousand miles from home and friends, 

A stranger and alone. 
Some years ago the writer stood 

Beside this famous Stone. 
How breathless did he listen. 
As his fancy heard it tell 
What fraud and woes, 
Through Saxon foes. 
His countrymen befell. 

This celebrated treaty provided that all Catholics should enjoy 
the exercise of their religion as in the reign of Charles the Sec- 
ond, and promised that William would procure them further 
security when Parliament should meet. It was engaged that all 



History of Ireland. 219 

the citizens of Limerick, and all those in arms for King James 
in the counties of Limerick, Clare, Kerry, Cork and Mayo 
should enjoy their estates in peace, and pursue their callings and 
professions freely; that the Catholic gentry should keep and hold 
their arms, and should be required to take no oath except the 
oath of allegiance. And it was agreed that all officers and sol- 
diers unwilling to remain in the country on these conditions, 
should be conveyed to the continent at the expense of the Eng- 
lish. Two days after this treaty was signed a French fleet ar- 
rived off the coast, bringing troops and military stores more 
than enough to have turned the tide of victory. It was to the 
interest of Ginkle to have the treaty ratified speedily, and the 
Irish negotiators are blamed for having so far played the enemy's 
game as to have allowed it to be hurried. They were, however, 
influenced by a sincere desire for peace. 

On the 4th of October five English regiments entered the be- 
trayed city of Limerick, and on the following day the Irish army 
was paraded on King's Island, in order that they might choos^ 
between the service of England and that of France. Sarsfield 
and Ginkle addressed them in different proclamations, the former 
recommending the French service and the latter that of the 
Dutchman in England. It was then agreed that on the ensuing 
morning the Irish army should be again paraded and marched 
past a flag which would be fixed at a given point. Those who 
chose England were to file to the left, those who preferred France 
were to march on. 

An impressive and interesting ceremony was presented on 
King's Island on the morning when the hour for the decision of 
the Irish soldiers arrived. The men paraded at an early hour; 
the chaplains said Mass and preached each a sermon at the head 
of their regiments. The Catholic Bishops then went through 
the lines, blessing the troops as they passed. They were re- 
ceived with military honors, rendered more imposing by the 
affectionate devotion the native Irish have ever shown to their 
bishops. A message was now sent to Ginkle that all was ready. 
The Irish army, fifteen thousand strong, received the English 
officers with presented arms. The English generals rode slowly 



220 History of Ireland. 

through the lines, and declared that they had never seen a finer 
body of men. 

General Withers then addressed them in an excellent speech, 
recommending the English service in very forcible terms, after 
which the army fell into line, and the word "March!" was 
given. 

The walls of the town were covered with people ; the neigh- 
boring hills were crowded with the peasantry of Clare and Lim- 
erick ; the deputies of three Kings stood by the flag; but when 
the word "March!" was given, the deepest silence reigned 
through that vast and varied multitude, and not a sound was 
heard but the heavy tread of the advancing battalions. The 
column was headed by the Irish Guards, fourteen hundred 
strong — a regiment that had excited Ginkle's warmest admira- 
tion. They all marched past the flag except seven, who ranged 
themselves on the side of England. The next two regiments 
were the Ulster Irish, and they all filed to the left. Their ex- 
ample, however, was not generally followed ; the greater part 
of the others declared in favor of France. A similar scene 
took place at the cavalry camp, and out of the fifteen thousand 
only about two thousand joined the enemies of their country. 
So little pleased was Ginkle with this result, that he was in- 
clined to pick a quarrel with the Irish leaders, and the treaty 
would have been broken almost as soon as signed but for the 
presence of the French fleet, which caused the English authori- 
ties to suppress their resentment. On the 1 2th of October, the 
Irish -"cavalry that had chosen the service of France, passed 
through Limerick on their way to Cork. This gallant body had 
been the darling and pride of the Irish during this eventful war, 
and their departure was viewed with bitter regret. The people 
assembled at the city to bid them farewell, but their hearts died 
within^them. A few faint cheers, as faintly answered, spoke the 
sadness as well as the depth of their mutual affection. Tears 
and blessings accompanied them to Water-gate, and when the 
last file had passed out, a deep sigh burst from the citizens of 
Limerick, who felt that their national hope was now destroyed, 
as these brave cavalry had always routed the English, and had 



History of Ireland. 221 

never been beaten. The infantry followed in a few days, but 
their numbers were thinned by desertion before they reached 
the place of embarkation. There are no people so strongly at- 
tached to their native soil as the Irish peasants. Those who 
have witnessed the trials at the assizes in Ireland, well know 
that transportation is far more dreaded than hanging, by the 
criminals who stand at the bar in Ireland. 

It is not wonderful, therefore, that many, after the excite- 
ment was over, should repent of their determination and re- 
solve to stay in the land of their birth. In a few years these 
Irish soldiers were deservedl}' esteemed the most valuable part 
of the French army. William, as soon as the treaty was signed, 
removed his foreign regiments from Ireland, but not before they 
had been guilty of several robberies and fresh excesses. A 
large sum of money had to be given them as a compensation for 
the plunder which they resigned, and they departed amid the 
joint execrations of both Catholic and Protestant. 

The treaty of Limerick was an arrangement in which both 
parties yielded some of their pretensions, in order to effect a 
peace, and as is usual in such cases, all parties felt dissatisfied. 
The Irish not included in the capitulation justly said that the 
town was surrendered without the slightest military necessity, 
and by holding out a few days the whole fortunes of the war 
might have been changed. They also complained bitterly that 
their brethren had left them exposed to forfeitures, when, by 
merely making the demand from Ginkle, all the Irish confisca- 
tions would have been abandoned. But no party denounced 
the treaty so violently as those who were the principal gainers 
by it — the Cromwellians or Puritan party. Their object was to 
rob the Catholics of whatever property they had yet left them, 
and their rage at a treaty which secured civil rights to all Cath- 
olics, and, what was worse, their estates to some of them, was 
what these sanctimonious Puritans considered an outrage on the 
people of God. They assailed Ginkle's character with the ut- 
most violence. In vain did he represent to them that if the 
treaty had been delayed the French fleet would have arrived, 
and the superior bravery of the Irish soldiers would have finally 



222 History of Ireland. 

drove them off the Island. They would listen to no reason, 
and never forgave the man who saved them their ill-gotten store 
and themselves from certain destruction. The bigotry of these 
men supplied them with arguments from scripture to conceal 
their avarice. They quoted examples from the Old Testament, 
as their fathers had done, and madly demanded the extripation 
of the idolatrous Papists. An anonymous writer at that time 
described the Protestants in Ireland in terms not less severe than 
merited, as consisting of hatred of Popery, ignorance of Christi- 
anity, and a total absence of moral principle. The history of 
the period on which we are about to enter will furnish but too 
many examples of the truth of this definition. The violent 
part of the preachers led off in denouncing the treaty. On the 
Sunday after the Lords-Justices returned to Dublin, they went 
in state to Christ's Church, when Dr. Dopping, Protestant 
Bishop of Meath, from his pulpit denounced the treaty of Lim- 
erick in no very measured terms, and argued that Protestants, 
who were the people of God, were not bound to keep faith with 
idolatrous Papists. A doctrine so favorable to their avarice and 
bigotry was eagerly adopted by those who hoped to profit by 
Protestant ascendancy. 

The first manifestation of their anger was on the decisions of 
the Court of Claims, which assembled to determine the amount 
of property to be restored to the Catholics. By the treaty of 
Limerick the court restored about one-fifth of the confiscated 
land to the original proprietors, and it is said that some were 
given back their lands by the special favor of William. The 
largest forfeiture was that of the Earl of Clancarty, and it was a 
doubtful point whether he was not included in the treaty. Will- 
iam was favorable to this ancient family, but Sir Richard Cox, 
who had already much of the stolen land, procured a declara- 
tion from the grand jury of the County Cork that the restora- 
tion of the lands of the Earl of Clancarty would be prejudicial 
to the Protestant interests — meaning thereby that it would be 
inconvenient, very, to these gentlemen to part with their estates, 
which they had stolen. This precious argument was deemed 
suflficient, and the extensive estates of this nobleman in Cork, 



History of Ireland. 223 

Limerick and Kerry, were left in possession of these robbers. 
Fifty years later George II made an effort in the Irish House of 
Commons to have these lands restored to the heirs of Clancarty, 
but was defeated, and to shut out all hopes forever, this Parlia- 
ment, who were all Protestants, mind, voted that any lawyer 
who pleaded in behalf of those heirs should be deemed an ene- 
my of his country ! The English Parliament, that met nineteen 
days after the treaty of Limerick was signed, set the example 
of violating the articles by passing an act that all members of 
the Irish Parliament should take the oath of supremacy. This 
act, though the Catholics submitted to it, was not binding in 
Ireland until 1782, when it was made part of the constitution in 
the twenty-second year of the reign of George III. 

The first Irish Parliament held under William had in it a few 
Cathohc members, principally in the Upper House; but the 
great majority was composed of violent Protestants. There was 
little harmony between William and this Parliament. 

The Cromwellians, though professing devotion to the English 
King and Parliament, have never shown respect for either when 
their edicts did not coincide with their own interests and preju- 
dices. Had William allowed them to rob and murder the Cath- 
olics, they would have permitted him to raise money as ille- 
gally as he might wish ; but his adherence to the treaty of Lim- 
erick kindled in their breasts the flame of constitutional liberty. 
They rejected one bill and passed another with a clause attached, 
stating that they agreed to it only on account of the emergency 
of the case, and affirming that it was, and is, the right of the 
Commons to originate all money bills. 

Sydney, William's deputy, prorogued the Irish Parliament, 
and chided them for the little gratitude they had shown to the 
great deliverer; but gratitude with them meant only thanks for 
future favors, and they parted in great indignation. Sydney 
was soon recalled from the government of Ireland, and in his 
place three Lords-Justices appointed, namely, Capell, Wyche 
and Duncomb. The two latter were anxious to observe the' 
treaty of Limerick, but the former was a supporter of Protest- 
ant ascendancy. His principles, which were directly opposed 



224 History of Ireland. 

to the commandment, "Thou shalt not steal," were too much 
in accordance with the prejudices of the day not to prevail. His 
colleagues were removed, and the Catholics had soon reason to 
regret laying down their arms at Limerick and trusting to the 
faith of England. The sheriffs in Ireland in those days returned 
a grand jury of men, all Protestants, of course, who if not 
guilty of the crimes brought before them, would gladly have 
imitated them if they had the chance. The administration was 
almost of necessity in the hands of those who were, either by 
principle or interest, united with the criminals. 

The Cromwellians, though rude and ignorant, possessed more 
worldly wisdom than their adversaries are disposed to give them 
credit for. They watched the proceedings of the English Par- 
liament, and were loyal or not, as best suited their interests. 
The English had used them in their war against the Stuarts, 
and for value received they now gave them full liberty to oppress 
and rob the Catholics of Ireland. 

Those political Protestants we shall find for nearly a century 
passing laws increasing in severity against Catholics, which but' 
to think of makes one's blood run cold ; when all of a sudden, 
in the eighteenth year of George III, came the American Revo- 
lution, which grew out of the English revolution, and, mark the 
justice of God ! caused these fanatics to repeal some of these 
penal laws. Wonderful events have been produced by this rev- 
olution, and in all probability England has yet to receive from 
America blows far heavier than she has ever yet had to sustain. 
William had in the first place brought over a large army for the 
English nation to support. Next there were the expenses of a 
civil war to endure. But these were nothing compared to what 
was to follow. King James was in France, where Louis, the 
King, treated him as King of the British Isles. William hated 
Louis for this, and England had to pay for that hatred. All 
those who had helped to bring him over were now embarked in the 
same boat with him. They were compelled to humor and to 
yield to him. They first wished to give the crown to his wife, 
who was the daughter of James, thinking there would be less 
revolution in this than in giving it to an alien. But he told 



History of Ireland. 225 

them he would not hold his power by the apron strings, and 
cut the matter short with them by saying if they did not give 
him the crown he would go back to Holland and leave the place 
to the "old man. " 

This was enough ; they gave him the crown Avithout more 
hesitation, and they found that they had got a deliverer and a 
master at the same time. War with France was now necessary 
to maintain William on the throne, for if he should lose the 
throne what Avas to become of those who depended on him for 
protection in holding the property they held unjustly, and 
which they could not expect to retain one day if James was re- 
stored ? Besides, there was danger, and great danger, of their 
lives ; for, though what they did was, and is yet called a glorious 
revolution, it would, if James had been restored, been called a 
very different name, and that name would not have been an 
empty sound — it would have been applied to practical purposes, 
and the chances are that very few of the principal actors would 
or should have escaped. Tradition is long lived; many men 
then alive knew how the fathers of these men stole the property 
of the church; they also, knew that the church kept all the poor 
in those days. Thus all these interested parties, who were the 
most powerful in the kingdom, regarded the war with France 
necessary to the keeping of William on the throne, and to the 
holding of their ill-gotten properties, if not to the safety o^ their 
lives. 

This war, therefore, ought to have been called a war to pro- 
tect certain persons in holding stolen property. But those who 
make wars, like those who make confiscations belonging to the 
church and the poor, generally know how to give them a good 
name, and accordingly this was called a war to preserve the 
Protestant religion and to keep out Popery and slavery. The 
history of this war is of no consequence to the American reader ; 
it answered the objects of its inventors ; it did not hurt France, 
but it made the English people identify the old King and his son 
with the foreign enemies of England, and that was what the in- 
ventors of the war wanted ; men do not reason in such a case, 
and this they also knew very well. 



226 History of Ireland. 

But though honest feeling may silence the reasoning faculties, 
the purse is seldom quieted so easily, and this war, though for 
the preservation of the Protestant religion and for keeping out 
popery, soon began to make heavy demands on John Bull's 
purse. The expense of this no-popery war was enormous. The 
taxes were in proportion, and the people who now paid five 
times as much as they paid in the reign of James, began not 
only to murmur, but to express sorrow for being delivered. 
Force, as far as law and the suspension of law could go, was put 
in motion to raise money. But a scheme was at last hit upon 
to raise one million five hundred thousand pounds sterling, and 
when this sum was subscribed, the subscribers should have a 
charter under the title of the Bank of England. Thus arose 
loans, funds, banks, bankers, bank-notes and a National debt. 
The inventor of all this,- Burnett, was in the first place a political 
preacher ; next, he was a lying historian ; next, he was a Scotch- 
man, and lastly he received the thanks of the British Parliament 
for his History of the Reformation, which was a mass of the 
most base falsehoods and misrepresentations that ever were put 
upon paper. In 1689, the year after the deliverance, the deliv- 
erer made Burnett Bishop of Salisbury as a reward for his ser- 
vices. And for repeating the same falsehoods, with many ad- 
ditions of his own, one hundred and sixty years later. Queen 
Victoria made Macauley, another Scotchman, a Lord of Eng- 
land. . 

William, and all those who had brought him in, also all those 
who had been fattened or elevated by him, were now embarked 
in the same boat. But the great body of the people were not 
thus embarked. Indeed, very few of them were. But if all, or 
a great part of those who had money to lend, could by the 
temptation of great gain be induced to lend their money to the 
government, then they, too, would be firm supporters of the de- 
liverer. For this purpose this funding system was invented. It 
had a two-fold object — to raise money for this no-popery war, 
and of binding to this no-popery government all who wished to 
lend money on high interest, and these were, as is always the 



History of Ireland. 227 

case, the most greedy, the most selfish, least public spirited, 
and most slavish and unjust part of the people. 

The scheme succeeded, but what a scourge did it provide for 
future generations ! The sum at first borrowed vas a mere trifle. 
But it was not intended to stop with that trifle. The inventors 
knew what they were about. The thing soon began to swell at 
a great rate, and before the end of this no-popery war the an- 
nual interest alone amounted to i^i, 3 10,942, which was more 
than the whole taxes raised in the days of James. 

Thus does the justice of God work ! The treatment of the 
Catholics at this time was truly horrible. This debt scheme 
was invented by Burnett for the purpose of utterly extirpating 
the Catholic religion ; and that religion still lives in England — 
nay, there are in the Kingdom in this year of our Lord, 1875, 
a greater number of Catholics than there are persons of any 
other creed, and it is well known that thinking and reading 
persons of all creeds are fast returning to the Catholic church. 
Burnett's contrivance did very well for present use ; it made all 
those who were interested in the funds advocates of taxation ; 
it divided the people into two classes — the tax- payer and the 
•tax-eater, and the latter had the government at their back. 
Taxes went on increasing, and the debt went on in the same 
way. The Protestant interest demanded more wars ; taxation 
increased at a fearful rate; one of the great gains of the glorious 
revolution was that there should be a new Parliament at least 
every three years ; another was, that no pensioner or placeman 
should sit in the House of Commons. This act was soon re- 
pealed, and placemen have sat in the Commons ever since. But 
the act securing the people a fresh choice every three years at 
least, that was a vital law. It was in the new state of things — 
a state of taxes and debts — the only protection left to the peo- 
ple; yet in the year 171 5 this law was repealed and forever 
abolished, and the three years were changed to seven, and that 
too, observe, by men whom the people had elected to sit three 
years. After the passing of this Septenial act until the reign of 
George III, by means of no-popery wars and other measures 
for defending and preserving the Protestant religion, as by law 



228 History of Ireland. 

established, the debt from i^i, 500,000, hadswelled up to £1^6,- 
682,844. The interest alone on this amount was eight times as 
much as James had raised yearly off these no-popery people. 
Now, though men will do much in the way of talk against 
popery, they are less zealous and active when it comes to money. 
In this dilemma a new scheme was resorted to, which John Bull 
hoped would relieve the demand on his purse. This scheme 
was to tax the American colonies, and to throw a part, first, 
and perhaps- the whole, in the end, of this no-popery debt upon 
their shoulders. These septenial gentlemen in England pro- 
ceeded at first slowly to shift the debt off their own shoulders to 
that of the Americans. They sent out tea to pay a tax ; they 
imposed a stamp duty on certain transactions in the colonies, 
but they had a sharp-sighted and resolute people to deal with. 
The Americans had seen debts and taxation creep by degrees 
over the people of England, and they resolved to resist the com- 
plicated curse. The moneyed people of America were not like 
those of England, embarked in the same boat with the govern- 
ment ; if they had been entangled in Burnett's artful web, the 
Americans might, at this day, been hardly known to the world ; 
might have been a parcel of poor devils doomed to toil for 
haughty and insolent masters. Happily for them, the Scotch 
Bishop's trammels had not reached them, and therefore they 
wisely resolved not to submit to John Bull's demands. It is 
curious that the Americans, as the glorious people of England 
had done, called themselves Whigs. A Whig means, in England, 
one who approves of the setting of James and his heirs aside. A 
Whig in America is one who approves of setting King George 
aside. The English Whigs published a declaration containing 
charges against James ; so did those of America against George. 
The charges against James were twelve in number. This num- 
ber, says Cobbett, must be a favorite with Whigs, for the Amer- 
ican Whigs had twelve charges against George. We can see 
what Protestants accused a popish King of, and it is well known 
to Americans what Protestants, and Catholics, too, accused a 
Protestant King of. Blackstone, in justifying the glorious af- 
fair, took good care to say that the like was never to take place 



History of Ireland. 229 

again, and the septenial gentlemen declared, and I think enacted, 
that the King in future could do no wrong. Now the Ameri- 
cans seemed to think it hard that they should be forbidden to do 
what was so glorious in Englishmen. Blackstone had told 
them that to justify another revolution all the same circum- 
stances must exist, not part of them ; the King must not only 
endeavor to subvert the laws, but he must have a design to 
overthrow the Protestant religion. So that, according to this 
lawyer, there never could be a glorious revolution again, as no 
Catholic could ever be King again, and no King was ever to do 
wrong any more. 

But these American Whigs did not listen to Blackstone. 
They thought, nay, they said, that a Protestant King might do 
wrong. In short, they drew up charges against this Protestant 
King ; and so the charges against James are found in an act of 
Parliament, as the charges against George are found in an act of 
Congress, passed on the memorable 4th of July, 1776, wherein 
they say: "The history of the present King of Great Britain 
is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in 
direct object the establishing of an absolute tyranny over these 
•States." To prove this, let facts be submitted to the candid 
reader. Then follows twelve charges, well known to the Amer- 
ican reader. 

The century after William overran Ireland has often been 
named the period in which Ireland had no history. During 
that century the records of each succeeding year contained lit- 
tle more than a repetition of tyranny on the part of the Eng- 
lish, and suffering most bitter on the part of those subjected to 
their sway. The penal laws, which must forever brand with 
disgrace the Protestant legislature of Ireland, were by no means 
the greatest affliction of the native Irish. The oppressions of 
the local magistrates, the heartless cruelty of landlords, and the 
denial of equal rights to the peasantry, produced evils more ex- 
tensive and more permanent. 

Bad laws may be repealed, but a systematic perversion of 
justice has a tendency to perpetuate itself Habit, combined 
with interest and prejudice, forces men to adopt the practices of 



230 History of Ireland. 

those by whom they are surrounded, and should one resist he 
finds himself alone against a host. On the other hand, it is 
difficult to inspire confidence in law into the minds of those who 
have long known the law only as an engine of oppression. The 
fact that justice is even to this day denied to the Irish Catholic, 
is indisputable. The Protestants in Ireland knew they were 
neither loved nor respected, and they naturally desired to make 
themselves feared. With singular impudence they denounced 
all Irish names as vulgar, and the sons of Cromwell's fanatical 
soldiery, the meanest and worst of the Parliamentary army, 
affected to look down on the O's and Mc's, descended from 
Kings, and over the ashes of whose ancestors splendid and 
costly monuments had been erected. Those Puritans in the 
Irish House of Commons spent most of their time in devising 
laws to prevent the growth of popery. 

But though in their conduct toward the native Irish the Crom- 
wellians were systematically cruel and unjust, we are not to 
conclude that they were totally depraved. It is said by their 
friends that they acted honorably and uprightly to all but Irish 
Papists, but inserted a clause of exception respecting them in 
every one of the ten commandments. Lord Capell summoned 
an Irish Parliament in 1695, but instead of recommending a 
confirmation of the treaty of Limerick, he informed the mem- 
bers, in a speech, that William was intent upon a settlement of 
Ireland upon a Protestant basis ; in other words, gentlemen, no 
punishment for stealing. The Commons appointed a committee 
to report what penal laws were already in force against the 
Catholics, not for the purpose of repealing them, as had been 
promised by the treaty of Limerick, but in order to add to 
them, and thereby possess themselves of their estates. The 
penal laws then in existence were as follows : An act subject- 
ing all to penalties who held to the Catholic church, and oblig- 
ing all persons to take the oath of supremacy. An act impos- 
ing a fine on all persons absent from the Protestant church on 
Sundays. An act authorizing the Chancellor to name a guard- 
ian to the child of a Catholic. An act to prevent Catholics from 
becoming school teachers. To these the Puritan Parliament 



History of Ireland. 231 

added: An act to deprive Catholics of educating their children 
at home or abroad, and to render them incapable of being 
guardians to their own or any other person's children. An act 
to disarm the Catholics, and another to banish all priests and 
Bishops. Having thus violated the treaty, they gravely brought 
in a bill to confirm the articles of Limerick. Never was a legis- 
lature guilty of such a breach of public faith. The very title 
of the bill is evidence of its injustice. It is styled, " A bill for 
the confirmation of articles (not the articles) made at the sur- 
render of Limerick." and the preamble shows that the word 
"the" was not accidentally omitted. It runs thus : "That the 
said articles, or so much of them as may consist of the safety 
of his Majesty's subjects in these kingdoms, maybe confirmed." 
The parts which appeared to these legislators inconsistent with 
the safety of his Majesty's subjects were the first, which provided 
for the security of Catholics from all disturbances on account of 
their religion ; and the second, which secured Catholics in 
their estates, for the Protestant religion could not be expected 
to exist in Ireland with nothing to steal. Another, that no 
oath should be required from the Catholics but the oath of alle- 
giance, and that they should exercise their trades and profes- 
sions without obstruction. All these are omitted in the bill. 
The Commons passed this bill quickly ; they had little character 
to lose, and on that little they placed no value when there- was a 
good chance to steal. The House of Lords, however, contained 
some few of the ancient nobility and some bishops that refused 
to say that no faith should be kept with Papists. When the 
bill was signed, the following protest, signed by thirteen Lords, 
six of whom were bishops, was entered on the journals : ' 'We, 
the Lords, spiritual and temporal, do dissent from the aforesaid 
vote because the said articles were to be confirmed in favor of 
them to whom they were granted, but the bill is such that it 
puts them in a worse condition than they were before, as 
several words are inserted in the bill which are not in the arti- 
cles, and others omitted which alter the meaning of the whole, 
and also because many Protestants may, and will suffer by this 
bill by reason of their having purchased and lent money upon 



232 History of Ireland. 

the credit of said articles. " Verily, here is a fountain in a desert ! 
Protestant bishops protesting against injustice to Catholics ! 
Don't think for a moment, kind reader, they protest, and only 
protest, because Protestants were likely to suffer by the bill. If 
you have a doubt on the subject, by all means give them the 
benefit of that doubt. This violation of national faith was soon 
after followed by more penal laws — first, an act to prevent Prot- 
estants from marrying with Papists ; second, an act to prevent 
Papists from being solicitors, and third, an act to prohibit their 
being employed as game-keepers. 

About this time the English Parliament presented a joint ad- 
dress to William, praying he would discourage the woolen man- 
ufactures of Ireland. His reply deserves to be recorded. He 
says: 

" My Lords and gentlemen, I shall do all in my power to 
discourage the woolen manufacture in Ireland, and to encourage 
the linen trade there. William, July 2, 1698." 

The promise of encouraging the linen manufacture was not 
kept. Every attempt to establish it in the south of Ireland 
failed, principally from the avarice of the Protestant clergy, who 
claimed one-tenth as tithe. This tithe of flax needs an explana- 
tion. In harvesting flax in Ireland it is pulled up by the roots 
and bound in bundles, then hauled to water ponds, where it is 
steeped for two or three weeks. It is then taken out of the 
water and spread quite thin on a grass field ; after about three 
weeks it is again taken up and rebound, then hauled to the mill, 
where it is first put through a process called rolling, then scutch- 
ing, before it is ready for market. The farmers thought one- 
tenth in the field was quite enough for the Protestant preachers, 
but these holy men insisted on one-tenth ready for market. 
This was doubling up the injustice, as the labor and cost of pre- 
paring the flax for market was nearly one-half of the market 
price. 

About this time Molinex, member of Parliament for Dublin, 
published a book asserting the independence of the Irish legis- 
lature. The English House of Commons resolved unanimously 
that the book was of a dangerous tendency to the people and crown 



History of Ireland. 233 

of England by denying them the authority to bind and tax the 
people of Ireland. 

Finally, they ordered the book to be burned by the common 
hangman. If anything could add to the disgrace of William's 
Irish Parliament, it would be their tame submission to this insult ; 
but a legislature already dishonored by theft and tyranny dared 
not to make even an effort for its own vindication. They were 
ready to submit to any treatment, if permitted to retain their 
ascendancy over the unfortunate Catholics. The confiscations 
made by William in Ireland, were grounds for serious quarrels 
between him and the Parliament. He having made seventy- 
six grants of the stolen estates to as many of his followers, those 
who were disappointed of their share of the plunder clamored 
loudly against this prerogative. A bill to annul these grants 
passed the Commons with little difficulty, but encountered se- 
vere opposition in the House of Lords. It was finally carried, 
and William, against his will, gave it the royal assent. The 
stolen lands were now placed for sale in the hands of trustees, 
who were scandalously dishonest, but the Parliament rejected 
all petitions against their conduct, and voted all the accusations 
false and malicious. This ingenious mode of argument, viz : 
giving sentence after refusing consideration, has been often prac- 
ticed by the English Parliament when legislating for Ireland. 
The forfeited or stolen lands were valued at fifteen hundred thou- 
sand pounds; in the hands of the trustees they produced about 
a third of that sum. Macauley says that these lands were be 
stowed by William on persons whose services merited all and 
more than they received ; but of all the grants the greatest was 
to Woodstock, the next was to Albemarle. An admirer of 
William cannot relate without pain that he divided between 
these two Dutchmen an extent of country larger than Hertford- 
shire. One of William's mistresses, Elizabeth Villiers, who had 
been lately married to George Hamilton, a soldier who fought 
under William in Ireland, and Avho probably held the doctrine of 
that day that a lady is not dishonored by being a concubine to a 
King — William was pleased with the marriage, and bestowed on 
the wife an estate in Ireland, valued at twenty-four thousand 



234 History of Ireland. 

pounds a year, and created the husband of this harlot a peer of 
Scotland by the title of Earl of Orkney. Macauley says " Will- 
iam would not have raised his character by abandoning to pov- 
erty a woman whom he had loved, though with a criminal love." 
William died on the morning of the 7th of March, 1701, after 
being King of England eleven years. Macauley says, "Bur- 
nett and Tennison, two bishops of his own making, remained 
many hours in the sick room previous to his death. He pro- 
fessed to them his belief in the Christian religion, and received 
the sacrament at their hands with (as he says) great serious- 
ness." There are different opinions among historians respecting 
the character of William. Burnett holds he was a model of 
Christianity, Macauley says he was a great and good King, but 
does not go much on him as a Christian. If to be a great King, 
as well as to be a great man, it is necessary to disregard all and 
every one of the ten commandments of God, then indeed was 
William self-made. 

ANNE, DAUGHTER OF JAMES, 

and stster-in-law to William, was immediately proclaimed Queen. 
While William lived, the factions of the ascendancy were held in 
check by their fears that some new crisis might wrest from them 
the lands purchased by such a long course of guilt and fraud. 
Now that they were rid of the foreigner they had no fears. The 
first bill passed in the reign of Anne was a bill to prevent the 
further growth of popery. The following are among the most 
remarkable of its enactments : One clause provides that if the 
son of an estated Papist shall conform to the established religion, 
the father could not sell or mortgage his estate, or dispose of 
any portion of it by will — the whole of the estate must go to 
the son who pretended to be a Protestant, however profligate 
or disobedient. 

Another clause prohibits a Papist from being guardian of his 
own child, and orders that if at any time the child, though ever 
so young, pretends to be a Protestant, it shall be taken from its 
father and placed under the guardianship of a Protestant. 

Another clause renders Papists incapable of purchasing any 



History of Ireland. 235 

enements or holding whatever. And if a Papist should hold a 
farm producing a profit over one-third the amount of the rent, 
his right to this farm should immediately cease, and pass over 
entirely to the Protestant who should make the discovery. 

Another clause prohibits Papists from succeeding to the es- 
tates of their Protestant relatives. 

Another clause requires all persons voting at elections to abjure 
the Pope, under oath, and also swear he is a firm believer in the 
Protestants' manner of receiving the sacrament. 

Taylor says, " It would be a mere waste of words to repro- 
bate this iniquitous law, or rather this violation of law, human 
and divine. No Protestant can peruse its enactments without a 
blush for the shame thus brought on his religion, for here it is 
virtually declared that Protestantism should owe its strength and 
security, not to the purity of its principles, not to the excel- 
lence of its doctrines, but to robbery and oppression ; to dissen- 
sion between father and son ; to stimulating one neighbor to 
seize the fruits of another's industry; to the desecration of the 
sacrament by making it a test for office. How can we be sur- 
prised that the Protestant religion is unpopular in Ireland, when 
by this and similar laws a Protestant legislature virtually declared 
that their religion was not secure, unless it entered into alliance 
with Belial, Mammon and Moloch?" 

When this atrocious bill was introduced, the Catholics asked 
leave to be heard by counsel at the bar of the House against it, 
and obtained it. Sir Theobald Butler, Mr. Malone, and Rice, 
who had been chief baron, appeared and made an earnest appeal 
to the justice and honor of their hearers, showing how gross 
was the attempt to violate the treaty of Limerick. The good 
conduct of the Catholics since their submission, he insisted, 
should save them from such bitter penalties. He pointed out 
how infamous was the attempt to destroy all confidence between 
parents and children, and the imposition of the sacramental test. 
His arguments, as he seemed himself to have anticipated, were 
unheeded. The bill was sent to the Duke of Ormond, then 
Lord-Lieutenant, who said on receiving it that he would recom- 



236 History of Ireland. 

mend it, and do everything in his power to prevent the growth 
of popery, a promise which he religiously performed. 

The English ministers were now engaged in a negotiation with 
the Emperor of Germany, who was then a Catholic, for the pur- 
pose of obtaining from him a full toleration of Protestants in 
his dominions, and knowing he would retort that he treated 
Protestants far better than they did Catholics, endeavored to 
dissuade the Irish Parliament from urging the measure, but in 
vain. The Puritans were not to be deterred from persecution 
by regard for foreign Protestants, because their war was not 
against the religion but against the property of the Catholics of 
Ireland. The Whig ministry were now caught in their own 
devices. They had maintained a popular clamor against popery 
for several years, in order to strengthen their influence, and now 
they feared that if they acted justly they would be driven from 
their posts as friends of Papists. They knew, however, that the 
Irish Parliament was composed chiefly of Presbyterians, and 
therefore inserted the sacramental test, hoping this would cause 
the rejection of the whole measure, but the English ministers 
had formed too high an estimate of the consciences of these 
Presbyterians. They sanctioned the clause almost without de- 
bate, and, as one of their own writers said, ' ' swallowed their 
scruples and the sacrament together." Human nature revolted 
against this cruel law. There were many magistrates who re- 
fused to execute it, and public feeling branded those who became 
discoverers to rob their Catholic neighbors. The Parliament 
had, therefore, recourse to publishing resolutions blaming honest 
magistrates and praising informers. On the 17th ol March, 
1705, they voted that all persons whatsoever who neglected or 
omitted to put the penal laws into execution were betrayers of 
the country. In June of the same year they denounced such 
persons as enemies to the government and the Protestant reli- 
gion, and they further resolved that the prosecuting and inform- 
ing against Papists was an honorable service to the government. 
But even these laws were not deemed sufficient, and in 1709 an 
act imposing additional severities was passed, almost without 
opposition. One clause declares that no Papist shall be capable 



History of Ireland. 237 

of holding an annuity for life. Another provides that the child 
of a Papist, on becoming a Protestant, shall at once receive an 
annuity from his father, and that the chancellor shall compel the 
father to discover, under oath, the full value of his property, 
and make an order for this property for the support of such con- 
forming children, and divide the property, after the father's 
death, as the court may see fit. Another gives the property of 
a Papist to his wife if she, however immoral, pretends to be a 
Protestant. Another prohibits a Papist from teaching school, 
even as assistant to a Protestant master. And knowing all this, 
Macauley tells his readers that Catholics are ignorant, and no 
doubt many believe him, without knowing that these cruel and 
inhuman laws made them so. 

These Christian legislators now offered a bribe of thirty pounds 
sterling annually to any popish priest who would even pretend 
to embrace the Protestant religion. And yet more, another law 
provides rewards for discovering popish bishops, priests and 
school teachers on the following sliding scale : 

For discovering an archbishop or vicar-general, fifty pounds. 

For discovering a priest, thirty pounds. 

For discovering a popish school teacher, ten pounds. 

They had already passed a resolution that this business of dis- 
covering Papists and popish priests was an honorable calling, 
and necessary in maintaining the Protestant religion. Another 
clause empowers any two justices of the peace to summon before 
them any Papist over eighteen years of age, and question him un- 
der oath as to when and where he last, heard Mass, and the names 
of the persons present, and likewise the residence of any popish 
priest or schoolmaster, and if he refuses to give testimony, sub- 
jects him to a fine of twenty pounds and imprisonment for twelve 
months. Many other cruel laws were enacted about this time, 
of which we shall only notice one. It excludes Catholics from 
theoffi.ce of sheriff and from juries, and enacts that in trials upon 
any statute in the Protestant interest, the parties might chal- 
lenge any juror suspected of being friendly to Papists, which 
challenge the judge was to allow. This baneful system is prac- 



238 History of Ireland. 

ticed in Ireland in counties where Protestants are in the majority 
even to this day. 

The design of those legislators appears to have been to drive 
the Catholics from the country ; and, so far as the gentry were 
concerned, they succeeded tolerably well. The example of the 
Parliament was imitated by the Irisii corporate towns and cities. 
They passed laws excluding Catholics from all profitable branches 
of trade, and in many instances from residence within the town. 
The Protestants of Bandon, in the county of Cork, a place, by 
the way, stolen from Catholics, had written on the gate, " No 
Papist allowed to enter here." Some wag wrote beneath this: 

He that wrote this, wrote it well, 

For the same is written on the gates of hell. 

These laws caused Catholics to transfer their wealth to foreign 
countries, where they founded commercial houses, which to this 
day retain a high character. 

The factions that divided the English Parliament through the 
entire of 

QUEEN ANNE's REIGN, 

extended to Ireland, and the parties of Whig and Tory, high 
and low church, assailed each other with violence. They agreed 
only in one point, the persecuting of Papists. The clergy of 
the church and a majority of the Lords were Tories, the Whigs 
were a majority in the Commons. The password of the faction 
of the ascendancy was, "The pious, glorious and immortal 
memory of the great and good King William, who freed us from 
popery, slavery, brass money and wooden shoes ! " to which is 
usually added a tail of curses on those who refuse to join in the 
pledge. Brown, Bishop of Cork, preached a sermon against 
this piece of absurdity, and consummated his folly by printing 
it. The Whigs denounced the bishop, and added to their toast 
contempt for him in no very delicate terms. The English Par- 
liament at this time passed a bill to prevent the growth of seism, 
aimed principally against Presbyterians, which was made to in- 



History of Ireland. 239 

elude Ireland, but they knew the bill could not pass the Irish 
House of Commons, where these Puritans had a great majority. 
The accession of 

GEORGE THE FIRST, 

produced little change in Ireland. The English Parliament this 
year declared they had full power and authority to make laws 
to bind the people of Ireland. The English Parliament, having 
thus kindly relieved the lawmakers of Ireland from much of their 
labor, devoted their leisure to passing new laws against popery. 
Several new laws were passed, inflicting further penalties and 
disqualifications on the Catholics, one of which is still in force, 
viz : that which excludes Papists from voting at any vestry held 
for the purpose of assessing money to build or repair churches. 
For, kind reader, the poor Catholics were obliged to build and 
repair these Protestant churches, after giving one-tenth of their 
crops to support the clergy. All these laws were executed with 
the same intolerant spirit that had dictated their enactment. 
Priest-hunting was a fashionable amusement, Catholic churches 
were either pulled down or forcibly shut up, the Catholic clergy 
sent to prison, and from thence into exile. But one bill which 
was passed by the Irish Puritan legislature, is sufficient to show 
how violent and shameless was the Protestant bigotry of this 
disgraceful period. It actually contained a clause — how can it 
be mentioned without offense to delicacy ! — a clause for subject- 
ing every Catholic clergyman in Ireland to suffer castration ! 

On presenting this bill to the Lord-Lieutenant, both Houses 
in a body made the request that he would recommend the bill in 
the most effectual manner to the King, and his Excellency prom- 
ised to do so. Sir Robert Walpole, at the request of some for- 
eign ministers, exerted himself to prevent even an Irish statute 
book from being sullied by such disgusting brutality, and the 
bill was scouted by the English Privy Council. The Lord-Lieu- 
tenant, on closing the Irish Parliament, attempted to console 
them for the loss of their favorite bill. He told them that it 
failed merely by not being brought into the House before the 
season was so far advanced. He tells them the public peace 



240 History of Ireland. 

would be greatly promoted by the vigorous execution of the 
laws against popish priests, and that he would contiibute his 
part to the prevention of that growing evil, by giving orders that 
such persons only should hold commissions of the peace as had 
distinguished themselves by adherence to the Protestant interest. 

The celebrated Dean Swift, for a brief space, united both 
Catholics and Protestants in opposition to the government. He 
was one of a numerous class of Protestants who by disappointed 
ambition were converted into patriots. But unquestionably he 
effected some good by giving the Irish an example of turning 
from party politics to a national object. 

A. D. 1727. On the accession of 

GEORGE THE SECOND, 

the Catholic nobility and gentry, with the principal part of the 
clergy, prepared an address, which they presented to the Lord- 
Lieutenant for transmission. This document, however, was 
suppressed because it was deemed inconsistent with law to ac- 
knowledge that there were any Papists in existence. The claims 
of the Catholics to legal existence were particularly offensive to 
Boutler, who was head of the Protestant Church in Ireland- 
This holy man was greatly alarmed by the increasing cordiality 
between Catholic and Protestant. A few of the Catholics were 
yet allowed to vote at elections. Of this right he resolved they 
should be deprived. A bill prohibiting Papists from voting a 
elections was passed without opposition. This, however, did 
not satisfy this godly prelate. He had several additions madet 
at the same time to the penal code. Of these the following are 
the most remarkable : The Catholics were excluded from acting 
as barristers, clerks or solicitors. Barristers or solicitors marry- 
ing Papist wives were subjected to all the penalties and disqual- 
ifications of Papists. No convert can act as justice of the peace 
whose wife or children continue to be Papists. 

A. D. 1745. The dread of invasion induced the English min- 
istry to entrust the government of Ireland to the Earl of Ches- 
terfield, who had been long in opposition to the court. By 
adopting conciliatory measures he kept Ireland tranquil during 



History of Ireland. 241 

the Scotch rebellion. He extended protection to the Catholics, 
and discouraged those rumors of pretended plots, which have 
always been so rife in Ireland. " All Connaught is rising," 
cried a zealous Protestant, rushing into his Lordship's bed-room 
in affected terror. " It is past eight o'clock, and time for us all 
to rise," coolly replied Chesterfield, looking at his watch. 

It is painful to add, however, that two atrocious penal laws were 
enacted during his government ; the first, annulling all marriages 
between Protestants and Papists, or that were celebrated by po- 
pish priests ; the second, ordering that every popish priest who 
married two Protestants, or a Protestant and a Papist, should be 
hanged. 

After the departure of Chesterfield, Stone, a Protestant bishop, 
became the head of the Irish government. Taylor, himself a 
Protestant, says : ' ' This profligate prelate scrupled not to em- 
ploy the most detestable means to effect his designs. To pro- 
cure partisans in Parliament, he is said to have gratified the 
sensual desires of the young members with the most unlimited 
indulgence. His house became in fact a tavern and a brothel. 
The injury done to religion by this bishop requires no comment. 
■ It is, however, remarkable that we find no one among the Prot- 
estants of that day to write or speak against his scandalous be- 
havior. Charles Lucas, an apothecary, having become a mem- 
ber of the common council of the city of Dublin, commenced 
an attack on the board of aldermen. He published severa 
tracts on the rights of the people, and the claims of Ireland to 
make her own laws. The Cromwellians became alarmed. They 
had usurped their own power, but now there was danger the 
people would be their rulers. They therefore joined the gov- 
ernment to crush Lucas as a common enemy. In October, 
1749, the House of Commons resolved that Charles Lucas was 
an enemy to his country, and presented an address to the vice- 
roy, requesting that Lucas should be prosecuted, and a reward 
offered for his apprehension. Lucas now went into exile, but 
on his return, after some years, he was elected to represent his 
fellow-citizens in Parliament. Dorset and Stone were now re- 
moved from the government of Ireland, and were forced to escape 



242 History of Ireland. 

from Dublin under an escort of guards and a hired mob which 
they had collected and supplied with drink. 

In the fall of 1759, a French fleet, under Thurat, arrived in 
the Bay of Belfast and took the town and castle of Carrick- 
fergus ; but not receiving re-enforcements, he retired. He was 
overtaken in his retreat by a British squadron and fell in the en- 
gagement. The loyalty shown by the Catholics on this occa- 
sion, and the addresses sent to them by the leaders of the Cath- 
olic body, also a disclaimer of the obnoxious doctrines imputed 
to them, induced the government to look with favor on this 
persecuted body. The Honorable John Ponsonby, speaker of 
the House of Commons, was the first Irish statesman who felt 
sympathy in the wrongs of his Catholic countrymen ; and to this 
day the Ponsonby family have been the advocates of religious 
toleration in Ireland. The news that the government meant to 
do justice to the Catholics produced violent commotion among 
the lower ranks of Protestants in the north of Ireland. And 
here let me say that experience proves that in Ireland hatred of 
popery is more violent the lower they descend in the scale of 
intelligence. The fear of the removal of the Parliament would 
greatly injure the trade of the Dublin shop-keepers. The mob 
forced their way into the House of Lords, seated an old woman 
on the throne, and got up a mock debate on the expediency of 
introducing pipes and tobacco in the House. They forced the 
members of both Houses to swear that they would never con- 
sent to a union nor give a vote against the interests of Ireland. 
They compelled the Chief Justice to administer this oath to the 
attorney-general, and laughed heartily at the circumstance of 
having the first officer of the crown duly sworn by one of the 
King's judges. From these they proceeded to more violent 
outrages ; they broke the coaches of some obnoxious individuals, 
and erected a gallows to hang another, who fortunately escaped 
out of their hands. 

The scheme of a union was fustrated by the death of George 
II and the accession of 



History of Ireland. 243 

GEORGE THE THIRD. 

In the new reign there were few penal laws, though in the year 
I y/G an act was passed authorizing magistrates to search the houses 
of Papists for arms, and to examine on oath those suspected of con- 
cealment. By another clause, Papists refusing to deliver up their 
arms or concealing them, or refusing to discover on oath, or neg- 
lecting to appear when summoned for that purpose, were made lia- 
ble to fine or imprisonment, or the pillory, or whipping, at the dis- 
cretion of the court. In the year 1782, Papists were excluded 
from the Court of King's Inns, and the law of William the 
Dutchman, excluding them from Parliament, was formally en- 
acted. This latter act attracted little notice, for the Catholics 
had submitted to William's English act, and were thus practi- 
cally, though to now not legally, excluded from the legislature. 
The word Papist has been used so often by Protestant legisla- 
tures in framing these cruel laws against Catholics, that it cer- 
tainly requires an explanation. In falling away from the Cath- 
olic church, the Church of England still retained the Apostles' 
creed in her services. In this creed the Apostles declared their 
belief in the Catholic church. 

Many of the early Protestants favored leaving out the words, 
" Holy Catholic Church," in the creed, and inserting the words, 
" Holy Protestant Church," but when they reviewed the lives 
of the early reformers this idea was abandoned. The Protest- 
ant law-makers therefore no longer used the word " Catholic" 
in speaking of their opponents, but substituted the word "Pa- 
pist," thinking, no doubt, as they had succeeded in robbing 
them of their lands, they could also rob them of their good 
name. The Presbyterians were certainly more consistent — they 
dispensed with the Apostles' creed altogether. 

The grants of extensive tracts of land to Englishmen was the 
first cause of absenteeism, which is reckoned one of the chief 
causes of misery in Ireland ; and certainly evil has resulted from 
this, but it is quite as absurd to suppose that compulsory resi- 
dence would be a remedy. The mere fact of a landlord living 
in Ireland or Eng'land would make little difference. If the Irish 



244 History of Ireland. 

continued to export their raw material and import the manu- 
factured articles, there would still be the same drawback on Irish 
industry. Absenteeism is a part, and by no means the worst 
part, of the system of land-letting which arose out of the penal 
laws. The persons to whom the forfeited lands in Ireland were 
granted eagerly accepted any offer made to them by persons, 
provided they were Protestants residing near the lands. Many 
of these Englishmen never intended to visit Ireland ; others 
dreaded the peasantry and sought refuge in towns; both classes 
were glad of even a nominal rent for what they considered un- 
certain possessions. 

In consequence of this many landlords, sometimes five or six, 
existed between the proprietor and the actual tiller of the 
ground. Thus the non-productive, or do-nothing classes, were 
increased, for each was supported by his profit rent, and the 
weight of supporting all fell upon the producer ; who derived 
from his labor but a miserable existence. This numerous 
class of vultures called "poor gentlemen" became a greater 
curse to Ireland than absenteeism ever had been, or could be — 
men whose income was from one to five hundred pounds a year, 
upon which they lived in idleness, deeming honest industry a 
degradation. Their support they derived from some lease, or 
share in a lease, and of course fell upon the peasant and absorbed 
all the fruits of his industry. The country, therefore, became 
and continued wretched. 

This land was all in the hands of Protestants, who all came in 
possession of it by theft, and the penal laws continued them in 
exclusive possession, as Catholics could not hold even a lease. 
Having already described the Cromwellians and their descend- 
ants who held these lands, it is needless to show how unfit 
these men were to be trusted with the destinies of a country. 
Even if we had not the evidence of impartial witnesses, com- 
mon sense would lead us to conclude that these men would ex- 
hibit the same tyranny and injustice which their representatives 
had displayed in Parliament — men who had, as legislators, un- 
scrupulously violated a solemn treaty and enacted prosecuting 
laws sanctioning robbery and crime, could not have been good 



History of Ireland. 245 

landlords nor equitable justices of the peace. We are not, 
however, left to mere reasoning to discover the general charac- 
ter of these landlords. The writer can well remember fifty 
years ago seeing many remnants of this system, which in the 
days of his father was in full bloom of perfection. The land- 
lord on an Irish estate is a sort of a despot, who yields obedience 
to whatever concerns the poor to no law but his will. Speaking 
a language that is despised, professing a religion that is abhorred, 
and being disarmed, the poor find themselves slaves in a land 
of written liberty. The execution of the laws lies in the hands 
of the justices of the peace, and they generally are the most il- 
liberal class in the kingdom. If a poor man lodges a complaint 
against a gentleman, or any animal who calls himself a gentle- 
man, he has no defence — for one gentleman always protects an- 
other, and protects his vassals as he does his sheep. 

The Irish landlords desired to surround themselves with Prot- 
estant tenantry, but they soon found the Protestant would not 
pay the extravagant rents they demanded, and they were of 
course rejected. Many of them emigrated to America and 
helped to swell the ranks of the Revolutionary army. 

Nor was this the only cause of the disappearance of Protest- 
antism among the lower ranks in Ireland ? Taylor says, ' ' The 
inefficiency, the negligence, and, in many cases, the immorality 
of the clergy of the High Church were at this period perfectly 
scandalous. Their anxiety was to diminish their congregations 
and lessen their labor. To the lower ranks of their flocks they 
were utter strangers, and would have looked upon any attempt 
to force intercourse as impertinence. The Church of England 
makes no provision for instructing the poor and the ignorant. 
The service loses much of its effect by constant repetition, but 
when read carelessly, in the style of a school-boy hurrying over 
his lesson, its efficacy is wholly lost. A well written sermon 
read from the pulpit is a poor means of delivering instruction 
to the illiterate and uninstructed. Irish Protestants have boasted 
that theirs is the religion of gentlemen ; they forget that such is 
not the boast of Christianity. A higher merit than giving 
sight to the blind, health to the sick, or even life to the dead, 



246 History of Ireland. 

was that the poor had the gospel preached to them. Another 
cause of the decline of Protestantism in Ireland was the want of 
service in the Irish language. Whether that would have recon- 
ciled them to a religion known to them only as the religion of 
murderers and robbers, is doubtful. But the experiment was 
never tried, and the church could not see the inconsistency of 
charging the Catholic with celebrating Mass in an unknown 
tongue, while it itself inflicted penalties on millions for not at- 
tending their church, whose language was almost equally un- 
known. 

Persecutions drew still closer the ties that united the priests 
to the people. Both were cruelly oppressed, and mutual suf- 
fering produced firm friendship. The poor Protestant felt sen- 
sibly the difference between a parson who would not deign to 
recognize him, and one who would be his adviser, his guide, 
and his friend. This was a more powerful argument than 
preaching on the differences between the churches. Preaching 
might show that Protestantism was better, but the conduct of 
the Catholic priest was more in accordance with the gospel and 
the conduct of the Apostles. 

So powerful, indeed, was the effect of the contrast, that but 
for the Methodists and Dippers, as the Baptists were called, 
whose preachers mixed with the people, there would scarcely 
be a non-Catholic among the lower ranks in Ireland, 

But with whatever other negligences the Protestant preachers 
in Ireland may be charged, neglecting to collect the tithes was 
surely not among the number. They employed a class of men, 
called tithe proctors, to collect their revenues, and never was 
there a greater scourge inflicted on an unfortunate country. 
Their oppressions would furnish materials for volumes. The 
Irish law of tithe was more oppressive than the English ; it 
armed the parson with greater powers ; it took from the farmer 
every means of defence against illegal overcharges. If the 
clergy had been angels they would have been corrupted by the 
system, but they were not even the best of men, for Taylor 
sftys, truly, "they used their tremendous power to the fullest 
extent." If anything further was wanted to alienate the hearts 



History of Ireland. 247 

of the farmers from Protestantism, it was to be found in the ex- 
actions of these tithe mongers ; for how could they love, or 
even respect, the preachers who robbed them of the fruits of 
their industry, and snatched the last morsel from the mouths of 
their starving families. 

The oppressions of the landlords and tithe proctors produced 
their natural effect. The peasantry, driven to despair, broke 
out in insurrection, which soon became formidable. The Prot- 
estant laborers of the north took the name of Hearts of Oak ; 
those of the south were called Whiteboys, from wearing their 
shirts outside their clothes. They committed outrages on all 
whom they deemed the authors of their wrongs. There was 
not a man in Ireland ignorant of the cause of these disturbances, 
but the rulers of the land were neither willing to acknowledge 
their tyranny nor cease their rapacity. They adopted their 
usual mode of remedy, and passed a code of laws so cruel that 
no country in Europe can furnish a parallel. Acts were passed 
which seemed calculated for the meridian of Barbary. One law 
was actually passed by which persons were to be hanged with- 
out the formalities of a trial. Though this law was repealed the 
following session, it marks the spirit of the times, and many yet 
remain on the statute book of Ireland, much better calculated 
to raise than quell a rebellion. The old cry of a popish plot 
was raised, which induced the Puritan leaders to commit new 
acts of tyranny, and many were executed under circumstances 
of very doubtful guilt. Many more would have met a similar 
fate but for the humanity, rare in those days, of Sir Edward 
Aston, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He was nobly 
rewarded. On his return from a special commission at Clon- 
mel, he found the roads Hned by multitudes of both sexes, the 
friends and relatives of those whom he had saved from the fury 
of the Puritans, all invoking blessings on his head for his im- 
partiality in the administration of justice. There was, however, 
one victim whose fate deserves to be recorded, as an example of 
the fury which the Protestants in Ireland, then and since, I'sed 
to hunt down spirited and, to them, obnoxious Catholics. 



248 History of Ireland. 

NICHOLAS SHEEHY, 

the parish priest of Clougheen, was a man of strong, generous 
feeHng, and full of sympathy for the injured and oppressed 
CathoHcs, a sentiment long deemed treason by the wretches 
who then ruled in Ireland. He had given unpardonable offence 
to the gentry in the neighborhood by resisting their oppression 
and denouncing their tyranny. He had often shielded perse- 
cuted victims and relieved those whom these tyrants had re- 
duced to misery. He was accused by them of acting as a 
popish priest, an offence then punished with transportation ; and 
. another that he procured money from France to defend the 
Whiteboys and enlist them in the service of the Pretender, 
who was the son of James the Second. 

A proclamation was issued, offering a reward of three hun- 
dred pounds for Sheehy's apprehension. On hearing of this he 
wrote a letter to the Secretary of State, offering to surrender 
provided that he should not be tried at Clonmel, where his 
enemies would be able to pack a jury. His offer was accepted ; 
he was tried in Dublin, and after an investigation of fourteen 
hours, was honorably acquitted. The evidence against him was 
that of a vagrant boy, a common prostitute, and an impeached 
thief taken from Clonmel jail and bribed to give testimony by 
promises of pardon and reward. His acquittal only increased 
the malice of his enemies. A report was circulated that a 
Whiteboy named Bridge had been murdered by his associates to 
prevent his giving information, and Sheehy was arrested as a 
participator in the crime. He had reason to dread a Clonmel 
jury, for on the very same evidence that had been rejected in 
Dublin he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged and 
quartered. We would suppose the proof of Bridge's death 
would be already proved before conviction, but no such thing 
was even attempted. In fact, it was already proved by two 
witnesses that he had left the country, and it is notorious that 
he was alive several years after. During the trial the guard 
around the court-house excluded the prisoner's witnesses and 
grossly insulted all who spoke in his favor. So far was this 



History of Ireland. 24:9 

system of fear carried, that his attorney, though a Protestant, 
narrowly escaped with his Hfe, and was forced to flee by night 
to DubHn. 

The pretended murder of Bridge was made the pretext for 
the judicial murder of some others of the high-spirited Catho- 
lics of Tipperary. But the effect produced by the dying decla- 
ration of these unhappy men caused such a strong sensation of 
horror that the persecutors were stopped in the midst of their 
wicked career. 

The state of morals during this unhappy time was deplorable. 
The habits of the gentry, who were the sons of the Cromwell- 
ians, were coarse and brutal, and the peasants learned all their 
vices. The few Catholics who pretended to turn Protestants 
neither were, nor affected to be, influenced by religious princi- 
ple. A certificate of having received the sacrament in the 
Church of England was what the law required to secure them 
from the robbers, and tradition records many instances of hor- 
rible profanation that took place when the sacrament was ad- 
ministered to these insincere converts. But, says Taylor, 
"there were also some noble examples of virtue, which it is 
more pleasing to contemplate. Many Catholics made fictitious 
titles of their estates to Protestants, and there were very few 
violations of this confidence. A poor Protestant barber held 
the title deeds of all the Catholic estates in a southern county; 
he would accept of them neither present or reward, but sup- 
ported himself by the labor of his own hands. His only recom- 
pense was the testimony of his own conscience and the grati- 
tude of those whose estates he had rescued from the rapacity 
of the discoverers." But what more noble recompense could he 
have obtained ? 

The seats in the Irish Parliament were at this time held for 
life, except when the King pleased to order another election. 
The people had, consequently, no control over them, and by 
these means the Irish House of Commons became a mere 
mockery. The American reader will scarcely believe the reality 
of cities and towns, containing many thousand inhabitants, 
where not over a dozen persons are allowed to cast a vote. But 



250 History of Ireland. 

at the time of which we are writing, say eighty years ago, the 
towns of Belfast, Clonmel and Cashell united, had not one 
dozen of voters; and fifty years ago Lord Donegal and Mr. 
Bristow elected the member of Parliament for the good people 
of Belfast. 

Had any person been bold enough to ask why such an abuse 
was permitted to exist, he would have been told that it was es- 
sential to the Protestant interests; and Taylor says, "Should 
you ask for an explanation of the wicked nonsense of such a 
reply, you would get the same answer, or none." 

The owners of towns, or rather the proprietors of the Irish 
Parliament, formed a body called undertakers. They entered 
into a bargain with the government to carry all its measures 
through Parliament, receiving in return pensions and profitable 
jobs. Similar transactions have occurred in England, but .there 
they were kept secret. But in Ireland corruption seemed to 
court notoriety. Honesty and patriotism were so lightly valued 
by the descendants of the Cromwellians that no one thought it 
worth while to lay claim to them. 

The two great objects of the undertakers were to oppose the 
independence of the crown and the liberties of the people. 
The English ministry did not interfere with the Puritans in the 
misgovernment of Ireland, which they insulted by their igno- 
rance, plundered by their rapacity, and slandered by their 
malice. But opposition to the power of the crown was an evil 
they determined to remove. For this purpose it was resolved 
that the Lord-Lieutenant, instead of visiting Ireland once in 
two years, should for the future reside in Dublin and manage 
in person the disposal of places, pensions and preferments. 

An unexpected result followed this change. The condition 
of the people was gradually improved, as the authority of the 
government was strengthened; but it was the misfortune of 
George the Third's reign that his ministers were afraid of the 
people, and that, in consequence, they entered into alliance with 
the Puritans, and entrusted that dangerous body with powers 
which they were afterwards unable to control. And Ireland 
continued to be oppressed, not because the British minister had 



History of Ireland. 251 

too much influence, but because, just at this time, he had too 
httle, "being checked and controlled," says Taylor, " by the 
boroughmongers, which knavery called, and folly believed to 
be, ' the Protestant interest. ' " 

This change cost England a large sum, and was made the 
subject of more jokes, good and bad, than can be here recorded. 
Lord Townsend, who effected the revolution, easily collected 
about the Castle of Dublin the inferior dependants of the Puri- 
tans, and purchased the transfer of their allegiance by the united 
influence of cash and claret. This was described by a wit of 
that day as "An attempt to monopolize the manufacture of 
legislators by purchasing the raw material ; " and the needy 
crowd that thronged the castle yard, in hopes to sell out, were 
said by the same wit to be "cultivating the half-acre," for so 
much land did the castle yard contain. 

A. D. 1768. The first great change in the government of 
Ireland was the limitation of the duration of Parliament — a 
measure pressed on the legislature by the unanimous voice of 
the people for seven years, and finally granted because of a dis- 
pute between the English and Irish Parliaments. To increase 
their own popularity, and at the same time to embarrass Lord 
Townsend's administration, the Irish Parliament presented the 
heads of a bill praying that a new Parliament be elected every 
seven years, certain that the measure would be rejected. The 
privy council, in a fit of ill-humor, transmitted the bill to Eng- 
land. The English ministry, enraged at the opposition their 
bills received from the Irish Parliament, returned the bill passed, 
with a single alteration, substituting eight for seven years, and 
the Irish Parliament, caught in its own trap, was forced to pass 
it into a law. Great was the disappointment of these pretended 
patriots, who had clamored for the bill, when they learned the 
English government had determined to grant the concession. 
They had for years advocated the measure and denounced those 
by whom it was opposed, but they never dreamed their labors 
would be successful, and when success occurred, they could not 
conceal their mortification. The nation was well aware of their 



252 History of Ireland. 

hypocrisy, and abstained from offering the authors of the meas- 
ure unwelcome thanks. 

The new ParHament had scarcely assembled, when the Com- 
mons became involved in a dispute with the viceroy on account 
of constitutional privilege. A money bill, sent over from Eng- 
land, was rejected by the Commons on the first reading because 
it had not originated in their House. Lord Townsend, in a rage, 
sent an angry protest against their proceedings, which the Com- 
mons refused to enter on their journals. The Lords were more 
submissive, and after a brief struggle, had the protest entered 
on their records. The court having suffered several other de- 
feats, Lord Townsend prorogued the Parliament, after a session 
of two months. Aittr: an interval of fourteen months this Par- 
liament was again assembled, and now the court had a majority. 
The Commons returned thanks to the King for continuing Lord 
Townsend in the government. Mr. Ponsonby, the Speaker, 
resigned the chair rather than carry up such an address. He 
was succeeded by Edmond Perry, who had been converted from 
a patriot into a courtier by a process of manufacture often used 
in the Irish Parliament, and the same manufacture, with new 
and improved machinery, is successfully carried on in England, 
to convert Irish members of Parliament and Irish patriots, to 
the present day. 

The rapacity of the agent of the Marquis of Donnegal pro- 
duced an insurrection in the county of Antrim, which extended 
over the greater part of Ulster. The insurgents, to show them- 
selves firm in their purpose, assumed the name of 

HEARTS OF STEEL. 

They resolved not to pay the extravagant rents and tithes de- 
manded by the landlords and agents, and to destroy the cattle 
and houses of those who would agree to pay it, Several of 
these men were arrested and brought to trial at Carrickfergus, 
but they were acquitted. The landlords enraged at being dis- 
appointed of their vengeance on their vassals, passed a law that 
trials for such crimes should take place in some other county 
than that in which the crime was committed. Some of them 



History of Ireland. 253 

were brought to trial in Dublin, but even there the juries, in 
disgust, acquitted the prisoners. This infamous law was repealed 
after several of the insurgents had been convicted and hanged, 
but a number of these Ulster Protestants sought refuge in the 
then wilds of America. 

A. D. 1776. The oppressive spirit which the British govern- 
ment had so long shown to the American colonies at length 
produced the effect that every man of sense had long predicted. 
The history of the eventful struggle which terminated in the 
freedom and independence of this great republic, belongs not to 
this work. 

From the habit of using the phrase 

"our colonies," 

the war against the Americans was decidedly popular in Eng- 
land. There was not an English peasant who did not regard the 
colonists as rebels against himself, as he held the colonies were 
part of the birthright of ever)^ Englishman. 

Ireland was regarded as a province even more completely at 
the disposal of England, and after the American war had com- 
menced, the effect of such an example on a nation still more 
grievously oppressed, seemed to escape the notice of those to 
whom the destinies of the country were entrusted. Their ignor- 
ant apathy brought the country to the brink of ruin, and exposed 
it to the horrors of civil war, from which it was saved almost by 
accident. The American colonies had been the most profitable 
market for the sale of Irish linen, but the war broke up the 
trade and caused the ruin of the manufacturers. At the same 
time an embargo was laid on the exportation of Irish provisions, 
under the pretext of preventing supplies to the revolting colo- 
nies, but in reality to enable certain contractors to fulfill their 
engagements with profit. The result of this profligate job was 
general misery throughout the nation, at the moment it was 
called upon for heavy taxes to suppress the American revolt. 
So great was the distress in Ireland that the British Parliament 
in April, 1778, passed resolutions for removing many restric- 
tions imposed on Irish commerce. The jealousy of England 



254 History of Ireland. 

was at once aroused ; petitions against opening the trade of Ire- 
land poured in from every place. And those from Liverpool, 
Manchester and Glasgow breathed rebellion in plain English if 
the Parliament should do justice to Ireland. The English pre- 
mier, Lord North, knew that these concessions to Ireland were 
demanded by sound policy, but he had not nerve enough to with- 
stand the popular clamor ef the English and Scotch. The bills 
were rejected, and Ireland, so far as the British Parliament was 
concerned, sentenced as usual to hopeless misery. Lord North 
showed more firmness on another question. Acts for repealing 
some of the penal laws, and for allowing Catholics to acquire 
property in land by lease of 999 years were passed by the Brit- 
ish and Irish Parliaments, but not without a fierce and vehement 
opposition. 

The resistance of the English and Scotch merchants to the 
opening of the Irish trade spread general dissatisfaction, the 
more dangerous as Ireland had then a national guard of citizen 
soldiers whose remonstrance could not be disregarded with im- 
punity, 

THE IRISH VOLUNTEERS 

were organized at a time when England was at war with both 
France and the American colonies, and had not a soldier to pro- 
tect Ireland from invasion. In self defence the people of Ireland 
offered to raise volunteer companies or establish a militia. King 
George and his cabinet, with the usual distrust of arms in Irish 
hands, asked time to consider the question, and it might have 
taken half a lifetime to decide, but for an occurrence which 
induced the government to be prompt in deciding. 
The unmatched audacity of 

COMMODORE PAUL JONES 

solved the problem with John Bull in a twinkling. The Ameri- 
can war was heavy on the hands of England ; the colonies were 
unexpectedly vigorous and triumphant by land and sea ; Ameri- 
can privateers manned by daring seamen were cruising in all 



History of Ireland. 255 

directions, capturing- and sinking- British traders and making it 
hot for the British navy. In the summer of 1777 many of these 
vessels had appeared off the coast of Ireland, on the watch for 
whatever spoil they could pick up floating under the flag of 
England. The alarm on the coast subsided during the winter 
months, but in the spring they^ again appeared. On the 20th 
of April, 1778, a strange vessel swept into the harbor of Car- 
rickfergus, where the English ship Drake of twenty guns, under 
the command of Captain Burden, lay at anchor. The stranger, 
a sloop of eighteen guns, made straight for the English vessel, 
shortened sail as she approached, let go her anchor, and at- 
tempted to swing around so as to board the Drake. But the 
manoeuvre was not successful, and she did not succeed in board- 
ing the English ship. She then trimmed her sails again, and 
rounding under the stern of the English vessel stood out at sea, 
expecting to be followed and attacked outside the harbor. The 
commander of the Drake well knew by this time the character 
of this unwelcome visitor. 

He fired a shot after her as she departed, and set about get- 
ting ready to give chase, but Captain Burden was in no hurry 
about it. His preparations were so slow that the stranger 
thought he was not coming out at all, and hurried away to the 
coast of England to seek better luck there. He sailed into the 
harbor of Whitehaven, sent on shore a couple of boats' crews, 
who captured the battery, spiked the guns, and burned the ship- 
ping in the harbor. Away she sailed again, right proudly and 
merrily, with none to say her nay, while the flames from the 
burning English ships lighted her course. Kircubright, on the 
Scottish coast, was her next objective point. There also her 
hardy and gallant men went ashore and gathered spoils from the 
enemy. And thence she took her way for the Irish coast once 
more. He now directed his course once again for Carrickfergus, 
to scrape up another acquaintance with his Majesty's ship Drake 
and Captain Burden. There he found her sure enough, lazily 
lying in the harbor she was to protect. Jones sailed in gallantly 
at eight o'clock in the morning, swept gracefully around the 
Engli3h war ship and stood out to sea again. Here was a chal- 



256 History of Ireland. 

lenge. Captain Burden hoisted sail, followed the stranger out 
to sea, and there met his fate. For more than an hour the two 
vessels pounded away at each other. Broadside after broadside, 
volley after volley, were poured from big guns and small ones.' 
But the American vessel was better handled, and the English 
crew wilted before her frre. Captain Burden, several of his offi- 
cers and a large portion of his men were killed ; sails and spars 
and the hull of the vessel were torn and shattered, and finally 
the remnant of her crew hauled down their flag and surrendered 
to the victorious Americans. Two days after, this English hulk, 
with other craft, which Jones had picked up, were towed into 
the port of Brest, there to be sold as prizes, after which away 
went the bold privateer to gain fresh triumphs in other directions. 

After this startling occurrence the fact became clear to all that 
if any measures were to be taken for the defence of the Irish 
coast, and of the country generally,' there was no time to be 
lost. The town of Belfast applied to the government for a pro- 
tective force of some sort. The government sent sixty dis- 
mounted dragoons. This, to the good people of Belfast, seemed 
nothing better than a mockery. The question was again pressed 
on the government as to which they would prefer, volunteers or 
militia. The government decided in favor of volunteers, for the 
simple reason that they would be least costly. 

The following rhyme was popular among the peasantry of Ire- 
land at that time : 

PAUL JONES' ENGAGEMENT IN THE BAY OF BELFAST, APRIL, 1 7/8. 

Come out, come out, brave Jones he said, come out, he said, to sea, 
And there I'll fight your English ship, if so you'll fight with me. 

You've twenty guns to my eighteen, if more or less there be, 

Your ship I'll fight this day ere night, if so you'll fight with me. 

Your men are two to one of mine, but even were they three, 
Just bring them all, said gallant Paul, and meet me out at sea. 

The Englishman got under weigh, and slow enough was he ; 

Jones sailed around him half the day, close-hauled and running free, 
And then he opened all his ports, and right away blazed he. 



History of Ireland. 257 



' He raked the craft both fore and aft, a- weather and a-lee, 
And soon her captain bold lay dead, and half her crew beside, 
And English blood, a bright red flood, ran fast into the tide. 

The Yankees rent her timbers through, and riddled spar and sail, 
Till all her tattered canvas flew, like ribbons in the gale. 

Then down they hauled the English flag, snd stowed it far below, 
From deck the Yankees cheered aloud, and took their prize in tow. 

'Twas so they humbled English pride that glorious April day, 

When Paul the rake coaxed out the Drake from Carrickfergus Bay. 

So drink we all to Captain Paul, hurrah ! and three times three. 

For his gallant tars, and the Stripes and Stars, and the land of liberty. 

The above is a fair sample of Irish loyalty to the English 
government then and now. 

A militia should be paid from the treasury, but the cost of the 
volunteers should be borne by the gentry of Ireland. Hardly 
was the word said when companies of these volunteers sprang 
up in" the north, and soon the movement extended to the whole 
country. At first these organizations were exclusively Protest 
ant, yet the Catholics, far from bearing them ill-will, looked on 
them with sympathy, and subscribed liberally to provide them 
with uniforms. Subsequently, when the national spirit which 
it developed pervaded all the land, Catholics and Protestants 
stood in the ranks in the greatest of harmony and friendship. 
In a few months fifty thousand men were enrolled, and still the 
numbers went on increasing. Before matters had gone even 
this length the government began to feel uneasy. Word was 
sent to Ireland that the volunteers must be discouraged, or at 
all events the officers must be appointed by the government. 
The Lord-Lieutenant found himself face to face with a serious 
difficulty. What would be the use of giving orders if they 
would not be obeyed ? Just as much as there would be in for- 
bidding the wind to blow, or in attempting to stop the tide with 
a pitchfork. No attempt was made to stop the movement. The 
enrollment went on, and the rumor that the government feared 
them only made it more popular. The force, which ultimately 



258 History of Ireland. 

reached one hundred thousand men, was composed of indepen- 
dent companies. The uniforms and flags of the companies were 
various and very handsome. The gentlemen Avho raised the 
companies were generally their officers, but the subordinates 
were elected by the men. These citizen soldiers, if not as well 
disciplined as the regular army, were far superior to them in both 
intelligence and spirit. 

Sorely the English government feared to put arms in the hands 
of these men, but it was now too late to refuse, as a refusal at 
this time would probably lead to a severance of the connection 
between the two countries. The arms were given them out of 
the government stores, each one as if it had been a drop of 
blood from the heart of England. And when the volunteers 
had these weapons in their hands, the dawn of freedom began 
to brighten in the land. On the 15th of February, 1782, two 
hundred and forty delegates from the Ulster companies met in 
Dungannon to deliberate on the condition of the country. The 
convention was held in the Protestant church. The following 
resolution was adopted: 

"That a claim of any body of men other than Irishmen to 
make laws for Ireland is injustice." 

In the year 1778 the sun of England's glory seemed to have 
set ; the high palmy days of the British flag were gone ; Ameri- 
can privateers captured their vessels in sight of their coasts ; the 
French threatened an invasion, and there was neither a fleet nor 
army capable of resisting them. 

The surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown lost America 
to England, but at the same time it preserved to her Ireland. 
Lord North was forced to resign, and a new ministry was formed 
under Rockingham and Fox. The Duke of Portland was sent 
over as Lord-Lieutenant, in the room of the Earl of Carlisle, 
and in his first message to the legislature he promised a repeal 
of all the grievances of which Ireland had so justly complained. 
The Irish Parliament now voted iJ^ 100, 000 sterling for the serv- 
ice of the navy, and ^50,000 to Grattan as a testimony of 
national gratitude for the ability with which he contended for 
the rights of his country. 



History of Ireland. 259 

England, on account of her embarrassment with America was 
obliged to see Ireland raised from its degraded state to its rank 
among the European nations. Its commerce, which had long 
been sacrificed to a cruel and unwise jealousy, began to be cul- 
tivated, and these advantages were obtained without one drop 
of blood being shed in the contest. But Irish writers, in their 
admiration of this period, seem to forget that the bigoted Crom- 
wellians still controlled the affairs of Ireland, and that the coun- 
try was still disgraced by laws which denied a political exist- 
ence to three-fourths of the population. When these matters 
are taken into consideration, it may be fairly said that the new 
constitution but slightly changed the character of the evil to 
which the unfortunate country was so long exposed — in short, 
the new constitution added to some of the old defects others of 
its own. Had the volunteers laid aside their Protestant preju- 
dices, and cut loose from the canting Protestant preachers, good 
results might have followed. But led by these psalm-singing 
fanatics, while they clamored for freedom they were determined 
to rivet the chains of their Catholic fellow-citizens. The aristo- 
crats waited with patience until the enthusiasm of the nation 
had been cooled by the idle bickerings of the patriots and the 
absurd bigotry of the volunteers. They had not long to wait. 
The time they anticipated soon arrived ; they assumed the reins 
of power, and re-established their old system of cruelty and 
corruption. The point at issue between 

GRATTAN AND FLOOD, 

the leaders of the patriots, if they deserve the name, was, 
practically, of little moment. But the vigor and virulence with 
which it was contested raised it into importance. Flood de- 
scribed Grattan as "The mendicant patriot who^was bought by 
his country for money, and then sold that country to its ene- 
mies for cash down." Grattan divided Flood's'life into three 
periods, and said that in the first he was intemperate, in the 
second corrupt, and in the third sedicious, and always dishon- 
est. 



260 History of Ireland. 

Delegates were elected by the volunteers to meet in Dublin 
and devise means to remedy the defects in the representation, 
and it is a fact that they nearly all sold out to the English gov- 
ernment. Musgrove wrote the next year several pamphlets to 
prove that patriotism was treason. But Ireland is not the only 
country in which men have changed sides and become the most 
fierce and unprincipled supporters of despotic power. Ohio 
produced Edwin M. Stanton, David Todd and Jack Brough. 

The plan of reform purposed by the convention of delegates 
was presented to the House of Commons in November, 1783, 
by Mr. Flood, amid great excitement and apprehension. It 
was opposed by Yelverton, the attorney-general, on the ground 
that it was backed by a body of armed men who attempted to 
overawe the legislature, and was rejected by a large majority. 
The convention did not show on this occasion the merit which 
was expected by its friends and feared by its enemies. After 
passing a milk-and-water resolution that they would exert 
themselves in the cause of reform, and agreeing on a very tame 
address to the King, in the name of the volunteers of Ireland, 
they adjourned indefinitely. The explanation of all this is that 
most of those pretended patriots became soon after pensioners 
of the English government. The dismissal of the ministry and 
the return of Mr. Pitt to power, who was the pledged advocate 
of reform, inspired Flood with hopes which were soon disap- 
pointed. 

Mr. Pitt went through the farce of perfecting a reform bill in 
England, but had it defeated by his own creatures, and he soon 
gave further proof of his insincerity by checking the reformers 
with a vigor not always within the limits of the constitution. 
The disappointment of the Irish people was great, and it was 
aggravated by certain restrictions which the English still im- 
posed on the trade of Ireland. The latter grievance Pitt seemed 
willing to remove, and at his instigation eleven propositions, 
drawn up in a spirit of justice that was rare in Ireland, were pre- 
sented to and passed in the Irish Parliament. Far different was 
their reception in England. Petitions against the bill were 
poured in from England and Scotland. Pitt, as usual, preferred 



History of Ireland. 261 

office to honesty or consistency. He consented to such changes 
as left Ireland in no better position than before. The Irish Par- 
liament had, on the faith of the eleven propositions, granted 
additional taxes to the amount of one hundred and forty thou- 
sand pounds sterling, and, mean as that body always was, it 
could not on that occasion avoid indignation at the way they 
were treated. When Orde introduced the English proposition, 
he encountered a strong opposition he by no means anticipated. 
The utmost exertions of the government could only raise a ma- 
jority of nineteen in a full house ; and he, knowing that he 
could not depend on even this support, gave up the bill. 

The defeat of the minister was celebrated by a general illumi- 
nation. Resolutions against the use of English manufactured 
articles were adopted in several assemblies, and the people of 
Dublin resolved ' ' to burn everything that was shipped there 
from England, except coal." The unblushing profligacy of the 
Duke of Rutland, who was at this time Lord-Lieutenant of Ire- 
land, deserves the severest reprobation. The encouragement 
then given to vice was long felt in Ireland. A demoralized 
gentry could not possess arbitrary power without abusing it, 
and the oppression of the tenantry kept pace with the profligacy 
of the landlords. Several insurrections broke out ; the peasants 
were sworn to obey the commands of 

CAPTAIN RIGHT, 

who was merely an imaginary personage. At first, the insur- 
gents only opposed the tithes, that great source of Irish misery 
and discontent. The Cromwellian landlords did not fear as long 
as the attacks of the Rightboys were confined to the church, 
but when they prepared a tariff for rents, the alarm was raised, 
and a bill for the suppression of illegal assemblies and combi- 
nations was brought into the House of Commons by the attor- 
ney-general. 

Nearly a century has passed since the days of Captain Right, 
but the abominable system which called forth him and his fol- 
lowers has been but slightly ameliorated. Laws have since 



262 History of Ireland. 

been passed in countless numbers to aid the landlord against 
the tenant, but no law to protect the tenant against the avarice 
and despotism of the landlord could ever meet the sanction of 
either the Irish or English legislature. These lawmakers have 
always found it more easy to coerce the aggrieved than redress 
grievances. 

After the death of the Duke of Rutland, the Marquis of 
Buckingham was appointed viceroy. His first act was to over- 
haul the fiscal management of the castle, and the amount of 
peculation he discovered was enormous. The frauds were so 
gross that nothing but a participation in the spoils could have 
caused the connivance of the former viceroys. The zeal of the 
marquis in detecting abuses soon cooled. The English were 
obliged to govern Ireland by systematic theft. Three-fourths 
of the members of the Irish Parliament held in horror the word 
"justice," knowing well that if justice reigned in the land they 
themselves must pack their carpet-bags. 

A. D. 1789. Pitt's ministry had purchased a majority of the 
Irish Parliament at their cash value ; yet a case soon arose which 
showed him he had made a bad investment. The mental de- 
rangement of George the Third threatened to hurl Pitt from 
office, for the Prince of Wales was politically connected with 
the Whigs. To avert this danger, Pitt brought into the British 
Parliament a bill imposing so many restrictions upon the Prince 
that his exercise of regal power would have been a mere mock- 
ery. In the English Parliament Pitt succeeded, but many of 
the Piiritans in the Irish Parliament, believing his Majesty's re- 
covery hopeless, resolved to be foremost in the worship of the 
rising sun, and by a large majority voted to the Prince of Wales 
the regency of the kingdom without restriction. Fortunately, 
before any collision could arise between the two Parliaments 
his Majesty recovered, and the Prince of Wales was left out in 
the cold for the time being. From this moment the project of 
the union seems to have been ever present with Mr. Pitt. 

He saw that though he could easily and cheaply buy a ma- 
jority of the Puritan members, yet they were not reliable when 
hopes of greater advantages were offered. 



History of Ireland, 263 

He saw in the facility with which the majority returned to 
his support as soon as they heard of the King's recovery, that 
the Irish Parhament was a nuisance. Buckingham, disgusted 
at the profligate corruption of the Puritan majority, retired from 
Ireland in June, and was succeeded by Westmoreland, who en- 
couraged bribery still more extensively, Peerages were sold 
for a fixed price, and seats were purchased in the Commons for 
the minions of the English government, and so notorious were 
these sales that members, when charged with buying their seats, 
did not attempt to deny the charge. 

Grattan, in the name of the little minority, used the follow- 
ing words : " We charge them with the public sale of peerages ; 
for doing which we say they are impeachable. We charge 
them with the purchase of seats in the Lower House for their 
minions ; for doing which we say, also, they are impeachable. 
And we charge them with committing these offences, not in one 
or two instances, but in many, for which we say they are guilty 
of a systematic endeavor to undermine the constitution, in vio- 
lation of the laws of the land. We dare them to go into an 
inquiry. We pronounce them to be public criminals. Will 
they dare to deny the charge ? I call upon any member to rise 
in this house and say, on his honor, that he does not believe 
that such corrupt bargains have taken place. I wait for a specific 
answer." The Secretary refused to reply, saying that inquiry 
into the charges was touching on the King's prerogative. 

All those who had any regard for the interests of their country 
or the maintenance of public virtue, opposed this system of 
government. Different societies for the reform of the consti- 
tution were formed, which were all finally lost in the society of 

UNITED IRISHMEN. 

Coercion was, therefore, brought to the aid of corruption ; 
arbitrary fines were imposed on editors of papers ; public meet- 
ings were forcibly dispersed, and those who presided or spoke 
at them, were marked for the vengeance of the government, 
who had succeeded so easily in buying up and dispersing the 



264 History of Ireland. 

volunteers, that they now thought their power was irresistible. 
"But, though," says Taylor, " the leaders of these patriotic 
clubs were Protestants, and many of them deeply tinged with 
the prejudice of their ancestors, they avoided the fatal error of 
their predecessors, and advocated the rights of their Catholic 
countrymen." The Catholic body itself had now undergone a 
great change. The number of Catholic families who had emi- 
grated and formed commercial establishments in various parts of 
Europe was very great, and when the lives and property of 
Catholics were secured by law, the members of that church 
soon outstripped their Protestant rivals. The Catholic aristoc- 
racy, in many instances, were as ready to oppress their tenantry 
as the Protestants, and refused to become the head of the move- 
ment made by the general body. The Catholics were therefore 
compelled to seek leaders in the middle ranks of life, and they 
found men conspicuous for energy and talent, but, as might 
have been expected, not very remarkable for prudence or mod- 
eration. 

At the moment when a large body of the Protestants eagerly 
sought for reform, and the entire Catholic body sought for eman- 
cipation, the French revolution burst forth and convulsed 
Europe to its centre. Humiliation greater than the English 
government had to endure at this time it is difficult to conceive. 

In 1792, the petition of the Catholics for liberty to vote at 
elections, and the petition of the Protestants of Belfast in their 
favor, was rejected with scorn, and the different grand juries in 
Ireland were instructed by the government to adopt resolutions 
against any concessions to the Catholics. Having thus raised 
the hopes of all violent Protestants, and provoked the just en- 
mity of the Catholics, the government, to the astonishment of 
both parties, introduced a bill authorizing Catholics to vote at 
elections, which passed with the same majority that only a 
month before had voted against even taking the same bill into 
consideration. This humanity and generosity will surprise you, 
kind reader, but let us look for the real cause of this surprising 
generosity. The Americans had now, in 1778, kept the Stars 
and Stripes flying over their armies for over two years, and be- 



History of Ireland. 265 

ing backed by France, were pushing on toward success, and there- 
by setting an example to every oppressed people, unhappy, trod- 
den-down Ireland not excepted. And before the close of this 
contest the Catholics of Ireland were allowed to breathe the air 
of their native country in safety ; and the English granted, 
jhrough fear, what they had long refused to the pleadings of 
ustice. 

The French revolution taught the world what reformations 
can do when pushed to their full extent. In England the 
" Reformation " contented itself with plundering the convents 
and the poor of their all, and the clergy in part. But in France 
they took the whole — "though we ought to mark well this dif- 
ference," says Cobbett, "that in France they applied the spoils 
to the use of the people or republic, a bad use, perhaps, while 
in England the plunder was divided among individuals." Here 
was a great triumph for the clergy of the Church of England. 
They, above all men, must have hailed with delight the deeds 
of the French Reformation, though on the contrary they were 
foremost to call for war to put it down, although in France con- 
vents were broken up and robbed, monks and nuns dispersed, 
abbey lands confiscated, the Catholic religion abolished. Cath- 
olic priests hunted and put to death in almost as savage a man- 
ner as in England or Ireland ; also laws, seemingly translated 
from the English code, against saying Mass, and against priests 
returning to the country who had been banished. Here was a 
complete annihilation, as far as law could go, of that which 
Protestants call "idolatrous and damnable." Here was a new 
rehgion " established by law," and that there might be nothing 
wanting in the likeness, here was a royal family set aside forever, 
and a King put to death, not without an example in the deeds 
of the double-distilled "Reformation" people of England. 

' ' What ! ' ' says Cobbett, ' ' can it be true that our church clergy 
did not like this French Reformation, but urged on war against 
men who sacked convents, killed priests, and abolished that 
which they tell us was, and is, 'idolatrous and damnable.' " 
Aye ! Aye ! But these Frenchmen put down tithes, too, and 
banished and killed the clergy, and if they were permitted to 



266 History of Ireland. 

do this in France, the same might be done in England. Well, 
but gentlemen of the law church, though they were wicked fel- 
lows for doing this, still this was better than to suffer to remain 
that which you always told us was idolatrous and damnable. 
Yes, yes ; but then these men of France established atheism, 
and not Church of England Christianity. Now, in the first 
place, they saw about forty sorts of Protestant religions ; they 
supposed that thirty-nine of them must be false. If English 
lawmakers could take the supremacy from the successor of Saint 
Peter, and give it to Henry the wife-killer, why might not the 
French give their's to Lepeac ? "Besides," says Cobbett, "as 
to the sort of religion, though atheism is bad enough, could it 
be worse than what, in your book of common prayer, you tell 
us is both idolatrous and damnable ? It might cause people who 
profess it to be damned, but could it cause them to be more than 
damned? The abolition of tithes was the only objection the 
Church of England had against the French Reformation, which 
cost John Bull seven hundred million pounds sterling." 

The French Reformation, though it caused many horrid deeds 
to be committed, produced in the end a great triumph for the 
Catholic Church. It put the fidelity of the Catholic and Prot- 
estant clergy to the test, and while none of the former was ever 
seen to save his life by denying his faith, everyone of the latter 
did so without hesitation." These are the words of William 
Cobbett, who was both an Englishman and a Protestant. But 
the greatest good it produced fell to the lot of ill-treated Ire- 
land. The French were powerful ; they were daring. They, 
in 1773, cast their eyes on Ireland, and now a second time a 
softening of the heart of John Bull took place, which no one 
living ever expected to see. Those who had been looked upon 
as almost beneath dogs were now allowed to be magistrates. 
And now, among other acts of generosity, we see established 
in Ireland by the English a college for the education of the 
Catholics exclusively, thus doing by law what the same law- 
makers had before called high treason. Ah ! but there were 
the French with an army of 400,000 men; and there were the 
Irish people, who must have been unworthy the name of men 



History of Ireland. 267 

if their breasts did not boil with resentment. So, on the whole, 
we are forced to the conclusion that fear, and not generosity, 
softened the heart of John Bull at this time. And shall this 
always be said ? He yet prohibits the Catholics of Ireland from 
having steeples or bells on their churches. And why this in- 
sulting prohibition ? Why should the Church of England be so 
anxious to keep her rival out of sight, yes and hearing, too? 
One would think the more people went to witness this "idola- 
trous" exhibition, the more they would hke it. But this law 
church has now found out that there are not now many men in 
any country so brutishly ignorant as not to see the real motive 
of this prohibition. The writer can well remember, forty-five 
or fifty years ago, in the town of Belfast, where the Catholics of 
that place worshiped in a little building far back in a narrow 
lane or alley ; and old men, who remembered fifty years earlier, 
said that then the Catholics worshiped in an old house in a lane 
so narrow that the Protestants in derision, named it "squeeze- 
gut, "as two persons in passing each other, must each turn his 
back to the wall. And in this place, the descendants of the great 
O'Neills, the Teelings, the Hamills, Whittles, Maginnises, and 
many others, the real owners of both the town and country, 
were obliged to worship, or renounce the faith of their fathers. 

How changed is the Belfast of to-day, 1875, from the Belfast 
of 1775! Now, instead of the old building in "squeeze-gut," 
the Catholics have, in the town and vicinity, about twenty 
churches, some of them quite large, and they number at least 
five to one of any of the sects, and nearly, if not quite, as many 
as them all. At a mission given in one of the churches last 
year, seventy-five persons, belonging to the different sects of 
Protestants, were baptised, and are now members of the Catholic 
Church. Verily, weak are the efforts of man, when God has said 
thus far thou shalt go, but no further. 

On the 4th of January, 1745, Earl Fitzwilliam arrived in Ire- 
land, and his arrival was hailed by all but the base bigots, who 
had hitherto monopolized the spoils. Bills for the emancipa- 
tion of the Catholics, and for reform of the police, were intro- 
duced with little opposition, but before they were voted 0|n, 



268 History of Ireland. 

news arrived that the Lord -Lieutenant had been recalled by the 
British cabinet. This removal was owing to the influence of the 
Beresfords, one of the family having been dismissed from office. 
This family had been bishops and archbishops in the law church 
in Ireland for many years, and in fact ran the machine for the 
Church of England people. They carefully collected the tithes, 
and at the same time hired some poor fellows at starvation prices 
to do the praying and preaching. Fitzwilliam, in dismissing 
Beresford relied on the support and honor of Pitt, but this min- 
ister had through all his public life sacrificed everybody and 
everything to the whims of the aristocracy. With the recall of 
Fitzwilliam all hope of justice to Ireland vanished. In the lan- 
guage of Grattan, "Two parties were in arms against the con- 
stitution. On the one side there was the camp of the rebels, 
and on the other side was Pitt the premier, a greater traitor than 
the rebel, for the treason of Pitt against the people was infinitely 
worse than the rebellion of the people against Pitt. " 

The minority struggled in vain to stop the measures of coer- 
cion adopted by the government — measures only equalled by 
Nero, and not exceeded by the tyranny of Bismarck in our own 
days. They proposed in their stead measures of justice and 
conciliation, which were sternly rejected. Pitt yielded to the 
Beresfords, but was deaf to the cries of the nation, and the time 
when conciliation would have preserved tranquility he allowed to 
pass by. The opposition in the Irish Parliament, finding their 
warnings unheeded, determined to secede. Mr. Grattan an- 
nounced the decision on the part of himself and colleagues in the 
following words : "We have offered you our measure; you will 
reject it. We deprecate yours ; you will persevere. Having 
no hopes left to persuade or dissuade, and having discharged 
our duty, we shall trouble you no more, and after this day shal 
not attend the House of Commons." 

The Parliament was soon after dissolved. True to his word, 
Grattan declined to be a candidate for Dublin, and took leave of 
his constituents in an address which will long be remembered. 
The new Parliament were almost all the creatures of the gov- 
ernment and hostile to Ireland. It soon covered itself with dis-. 



History of Ireland. 269 

grace and flooded the country with blood, and when the measure 
of its crimes was full, laid violent hands upon itself and ended 
its existence by committing suicide. We now come to the iierce 
struggle usually but improperly called 

THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1 798. 

The efforts of the volunteers were defeated, because they 
showed an unwillingness to concede to the Catholics their just 
rights. A few of that body, however, held more liberal opin- 
ions, and eagerly sought to unite Irishmen of every creed in the 
great object of securing a good and impartial government for 
their country. The repeated disappointment of the hopes the 
Patriots entertained of obtaining justice from Parliament, caused 
many to think revolution the only means by which reform could 
be effected. 

The United Irishmen of the north were chiefly descendants of 
Scotch Presbyterians, who had settled in Ulster in the days of 
James the First and Cromwell. The Catholic leaders were prin- 
cipally natives of Leinster and Munster. As both had nearly 
similar objects, it was their interest to unite, and the union was 
effected through the agency of 

WOLFE TONE. 

But, while the leaders were united, the lower ranks were kept 
apart by a system of persecution connived at, if not directly 
encouraged, by the government. Fighting between factions 
composed of Catholics and Protestants had become a common 
practice in County Armagh, and kept alive the bitterest religious 
animosity between the parties. After the Catholics became 
voters, the hate of the lower order of Protestants was increased 
by self-interest, as heretofore the Protestant tenant was preferred 
by the electioneering landlords, but now, when the Catholic 
could also vote, they found the landlords ready to take advantage 
of the open market by raising the rents. 

In 1795, a Protestant banditti, calling themselves Peep-o'-Day 
Boys, served notice on most of the Catholics in County Armagh 



270 History of Ireland. _ 

to quit their farms before a certain day, threatening destruction 
of property, and even loss of life, in case of disobedience. To 
oppose these the Catholics formed an association called Defend- 
ers, which soon spread widely over the country, and soon pro- 
ceeded from defence to aggression. Towards the close of that 
year, the Peep-o'-Day Boys formed themselves into an associa- 
tion called 

ORANGEMEN. 

The object of these fellows was to maintain Protestant ascend- 
ancy and the principles established by William the Dutchman. 
This ascendancy was, in their estimation, the right to plunder, 
and the acts of violence and cruelty committed by the vulgar 
and low class of these Orangemen on their Catholic fellow-coun- 
trymen were only equalled in the days of Cromwell. The Peep- 
o'-Day Boys were not checked before they had driven from 
Armagh several hundred Catholic families. These seeking 
refuge in different, parts of the country, spread the report, to 
which appearances gave sanction, that the extermination of the 
Catholics was the real object of the Orangemen, if we may call 
them men, perhaps fiends would be a more appropriate name. 
The warfare between landlord and tenant in the south of Ire- 
land, caused by oppression on the one hand and misery on 
the other, served to swell the ranks of the Defenders. But their 
opposition to the landlords, who were then all Protestants, in 
some degree alienated the northern Protestants, who, like the 
Puritans in Massachusetts, were clamorous for liberty for them- 
selves, but never for a moment thought of sharing it with others 
— thus producing a dangerous distraction in the councils of the 
United Irishmen. At this crisis the Reverend William Jackson, 
an emissary from France, arrived in Ireland, being sent by the 
French government to sound the disposition of the Irish people. 
The rashness of this man's proceedings gave rise to a suspicion 
that he was secretly the spy of the British government, and his 
suicide alone clears his memory of this foul imputation. But it 
is not so easy to remove the stain which this transaction affixes 
to the memory of Pitt, who was the British minister at that 



History oj Ireland. 271 

period. From the very beginning all of Jackson's views and 
intentions were known to Pitt, Before he came to Ireland the 
object of his journey had been betrayed. He was allowed to 
proceed, not to detect, but to secure a sufficient supply of vic- 
tims. This designing cruelty of Pitt failed to produce the de- 
sired effect. The imprudence of Jackson was so manifest that 
only two or three enthusiasts committed themselves, and these 
contrived to make their escape. Jackson's public trial revealed 
to the Irish the fact that France was willing to become their ally, 
and gave confidence to the Union from the hopes of foreign aid 
and sympathy. An immense number now joined the United 
Irishmen. The new converts were men of virtue and ability. 
They had sought reform by constitutional means, while that 
object seemed attainable, and even while preparing a revolution 
hoped for a reconciliation with the Parliament, and held back 
from striking a blow, trusting that the shedding of blood might 
yet be averted. Among them were such men as 

LORD EDWARD FITZGERALH, ARTHUR o'cONNOR, ROBERT EMMETT 
AND DR. m'nEVIN, 

men whose character may challenge comparison with those of 
the purest patriots recorded in history. They organized the 
society in the south, and in the north 100,000 men were ready 
to march when called out. 

The negotiations opened with the French Directory were car- 
ried on with equal spirit and prudence. While every security 
for the repayment of expenses incurred in the expedition was 
offered, measures were taken to preserve the independence of 
Ireland, and to preserve it from becoming a mere province of 
France. Lord Edward made it an express condition that France 
should send but a small military force, and that her aid should 
be limited to a supply of arms. 

The Earl of Camden, who was the Lord-Lieutenant, was a 
mere cipher. The Tories, strong in the monopoly of every official 
situation, and having exclusive possession of the magistracy and 
the military, laid aside all pretensions to moderation, and treated 



272 History of Ireland. 

the people with arbitrary severity, which Bismarck in his wildest 
freaks of tyranny never yet equalled. 

The system of endeavoring to extort confessions by torture, 
the turning out their licentious soldiers at free quarters on a pro- 
claimed district, imprisonment from mere caprice, and transpor- 
tation without trial, were acts not merely permitted but ap- 
plauded. Lord Carhampton was among the most conspicuous 
of these tyrants. He formed an inquisitorial tribunal in several 
of the western counties, and, having, in the absence of the ac- 
cused, examined the charges against persons confined on sus- 
picion, he sent on board of a tender those who were likely, in 
the phraseology of the day, " to elude justice" — that is, against 
whom there was not as much evidence as would satisfy even a 
jury of Puritans. The grand juries and Orange corporations 
warmly thanked Carhampton for what they termed his ' ' whole- 
some severity," and the Parliament shielded him from the legal 
consequences of this open violation of the constitution by pass- 
ing an act of indemnity. This was followed by an insurrection 
act of more than ordinary severity. It was opposed by Lord 
Edward Fitzgerald, who had not yet lost hope of saving his 
country from a furious revolution. He said that nothing but a 
redress of grievances would tranquilize the country, and if that 
was done the people would return to their allegiance; if not, he 
feared that neither resolutions nor bills would be of any avail. 
His warnings were in vain ; the insurrection and indemnity bills 
were carried without a division. 

A. D. 1796. Hopeless of Parliamentary relief, the United 
Irishmen overcame their repugnance to foreign aid, resolved to 
solicit aid from France, and Wolfe Tone was sent to America 
for the same purpose. In the summer Lord Edward Fitzgerald 
and Arthur O'Connor were sent to France to negotiate the 
terms of a treaty between the Irish and French republics, but 
on account of Lord Edward's connection with the royal family 
of France, the Republicans refused to treat with him, and the 
treaty was managed by Mr. O'Connor. The expedition sent by 
the French on this occasion was truly formidable. It consisted 
of 15,000 picked soldiers, under the command of Hoche, one 



History of Ireland. 273 

of the bravest of the revolutionary generals. The naval force 
was not composed of such good material. Delays of various 
kinds prevented the fleet from sailing as early as was intended, 
and information was sent to the Irish leaders that the expedition 
would not set out before spring. The armament at length sailed 
on the 15th of December. No British vessels appeared to 
oppose the progress of the enemy. There were no forces in 
the south of Ireland to offer any resistance. But the winds and 
waves protectad Britain ; the fleet was dispersed over the ocean, 
and the small part of it that arrived in Bantry Bay, was delayed 
by the indecision of Grouchy, until a tremendous gale, right off 
shore, arose and rendered a landing impossible. A remnant of 
the shattered fleet returned home, and Ireland, or the English 
interests in Ireland, was saved from conquest by chance and the 
elements. 

The defeat of this armament afforded a fair opportunity for 
securing the peace of Ireland, by effecting a reconciliation be- 
tween the government and the people. The English must have 
seen how ill-grounded was their confidence in the boasted pro- 
tection of their fleet, when the coast of Ireland was left at the 
mercy of a hostile navy, and only owed its escape to events that 
baffle human calculations. On the other hand, the Unionists 
began to suspect the ambition of the French, when, instead of 
a small force to assist them in establishing freedom, they found 
an armament sufficient to conquer the country. Wolfe Tone 
says that the force agreed upon was a force sufficient for the 
deliverance, but not for the subjugation of the country. 

The government had now virtually declared war against its 
subjects. By raising the war-cry of Protestant ascendancy, it 
had engaged on its side the bigoted part of the Protestants, and 
by promising adherence to the old system of misrule, it gained 
the support of all those who, in the name of religion, had 
stolen their neighbors' goods, and been thereby raised from in- 
significance to wealth and power, and others who hoped for 
more confiscation, that stronghold of Protestant ascendancy. 

In the train of the insurrection act followed the suspension of 
the Habeas Corpus, the proclamation of martial law, and the 



274 History of Ireland. 

infliction of torture by military tribunals on all who were sus- 
pected of being suspicious. The caution of the leaders of the 
Unionists in Leinster was all that saved the government from 
ruin in 1797. The men of Ulster, amounting to one hundred 
thousand men, were eager to begin the fight. A numerous 
body of soldiers in Dublin offered to put the Patriots in posses- 
sion of the city ; the counties of Leinster were ready to pour 
in re-enforcements from all sides. The neglect of this oppor- 
tunity was ruinous. The possession of Dublin would have en- 
abled the Patriots to make themselves masters of the whole 
island in a week, or, at the worst, have placed them in a posi- 
tion for maintaining the struggle until assistance could reach 
them from France. Despair of effecting their freedom without 
foreign aid is said to have caused this fatal error, which de- 
stroyed the unity and strength of the party. The northerners, 
disgusted by the timidity of their associates in Leinster, and 
wearied by the delays of the French, began to return to their 
allegiance, and the i'^ creasing coolness between the Presbyterian 
and Catholic members, finally ruined the cause in Ulster. Ire- 
land was again, in 1797, a second time saved to the British by 
the winds and waves. A powerful fleet had been prepared in 
the Texel, but it was delayed by the weakness of the French 
Minister of Marine, and afterwards by adverse winds, during 
the favorable period that England was deprived of her fleet by 
the mutiny of the Nore. The arrival of Admiral Duncan, 
with a superior force, and the folly of the Dutch in hazarding 
an engagement, freed England from danger. The victory at 
Champerdown, one of the greatest in the annals of England, 
prevented the French from executing the promises they had 
made to the United Irishmen. 

It became now the policy of the Irish government to goad 
the people by torture into a premature insurrection before the 
organization would be so completed as to be irresistible. Mar- 
tial law was proclaimed in several counties ; a savage soldiery, 
and a still more savage yeomanry, were encouraged to outdo 
each other in acts of cruelty ; the tortures of whipping, picket- 
ing, half- hanging, and the pitch cap were used to extort confes- 



History of Ireland. '^I'Jb 

sion of guilt, or to force prisoners to criminate others. The 
huts of the peasantry were burned, their sons tortured or slain, 
their daughters subjected to all the brutal passions of a de- 
graded and demoralized army. Disgusted at witnessing such 
barbarity, the brave Abercrombie, then in command of the 
army, published a proclamation, in which he described the sol- 
diers then in Ireland as so demoralized by licentiousness as to 
be formidable to everybody but the enemy. Finding that no 
attention was paid to his remonstrances, and that the govern- 
ment had resolved to let loose this brutal army on the people, 
he resigned the command, and was succeeded by General Lake, 
who was not troubled with scruples. The atrocities committed 
by the army and Orange yeomanry in the counties of Carlow, 
Kildare and Wexford, are almost beyond belief; they had the 
effect of provoking a fearful retaliation. When the peasantry 
took up arms they showed that they had been apt scholars in 
the lessons of cruelty taught them by the English. 

An almost open conspiracy against the oppressors had now 
existed for two years, and no discovery of the leaders had yet 
been made, though large rewards were offered to informers. 
Chance again favored Pitt. One Reynolds, who had been a 
member of the Union, being in want of money, sold the secret 
to the government, and insured for himself pardon and reward. 
In consequence of his information, most of the leaders were ar- 
rested at Oliver Bond's, on the 13th of March. Lord Edward 
Fitzgerald, who happened to be absent, eluded pursuit until 
the 19th of May, when, after a desperate resistance, in which 
he was mortally wounded, he was made a prisoner. The Shearses 
and others who had taken the places of those arrested at Bond's 
were betrayed to the government by a person to whom they 
had entrusted their secrets, and thus the insurrection seemed 
crushed in the bud by the loss of all its leaders. But the ex- 
citement of the people, deliberately tortured into rebellion, 
could not be even thus suppressed. From the papers seized in 
the houses of the Patriots, it became known to the government 
that the night of the 23d of May was fixed upon for a general 
rising, and the intelligence was officially communicated to the 



276 History of Ireland. 

Mayor of Dublin and both Houses of Parliament. An address 
was voted in reply by the Commons, and was presented to the 
Lord-Lieutenant by all the members, who went in solemn pro- 
cession to the Castle, with the speaker at their head. 

No language can convey the remotest idea of the situation of 
Dublin at this lamentable crisis. Every man looked with sus- 
picion on his neighbor, dreading death from the disaffected, and 
tortures worse than death from the English faction who usurped 
the government. Curran has made known to the world a few 
of the outrages perpetrated by those who called themselves 
"loyal," but the horrors of Beresford's riding-house have' not 
had equal publicity. The infernal system of endeavoring to 
obtain information by torture — practiced at this time in every 
part of Ireland, was nowhere more generally acted upon as in 
Dublin. Private revenge frequently urged secret information 
against the innocent, and the accused were always punished 
without even being brought face to face with the accuser. 

As the French had introduced the fashion of wearing short 
hair, a " croppy" became the name of all who were opposed to 
tyranny. Many persons who had innocently adopted the fash- 
ion were subjected to the degradation of a military flogging ; 
worse tortures were reserved for those who, at elections, op- 
posed the government, or had advocated liberal principles. Nor 
were these outrages confined to Dublin. They were enacted in 
almost every town in Ireland, for the whole country was then 
under martial law — that is, under the control of Orange yeo- 
manry and brutal, demoralized soldiers. On the 23d of May 
the insurrection broke out in the counties of Kildare and Car- 
low. The peasants wanted everything but heroism. They had 
no arms but clumsy pikes, and a few guns in bad order ; they 
were of course easily defeated. At Naas and Kilcullin the 
Royalists met little loss, but the Patriots suffered severely. All 
the prisoners taken by the English were hanged without cere- 
mony, and there is reason to believe that many shared their 
fate who took no part in the enterprise. At Prosperous, in the 
County Kildare, a regiment of militia, headed by Captain 
Swayne, was surprised and cut to pieces by the Irish. The 



History of Ireland. 277 

captain is said to have been fiendishly severe in the infliction of 
military executions, and is said to have fallen by the hand of a 
man whose house he had burned. When the news of these 
events reached Dubhn, the Lord-Lieutenant issued a proclama- 
tion, giving notice that his Majesty's officers had orders to pun- 
ish by death or otherwise, as their judgments should approve, 
all persons acting or assisting in the rebellion. An attack hav- 
ing been made by the peasants at Carlow, they were routed 
with great slaughter. The death of four hundred on the field 
was not, however, sufficient to satisfy the loyal desire for ven- 
geance. More than two hundred prisoners were executed by 
martial law. There was one victim among these unhappy men 
whose fate claims special notice. Sir Edward Crosbie had given 
offence to the rulers by expressing sympathy for the peasantry. 
Being surrounded by the Patriots and made prisoner previous to 
the attack on Carlow, he was unable to give the Enghsh notice 
of the approach of their assailants. For this he was brought to 
trial. Catholic prisoners were flogged to obtain evidence 
against him, and were offered their lives on condition of bear- 
ing witness against him. But, though he was a Protestant, not 
one of the Catholics could be bribed to swear against him, even 
to save their own lives. Piotestant loyalists were prevented by 
military force from appearing in his favor, and even after his 
execution, so conscious were the members of the court-martial 
that the evidence would not warrant the condemnation, that 
they destroyed the minutes of their proceedings. 

The Patriots of Kildare, having suffered several defeats, ac- 
cepted the offers of pardon made to them by General Dundas. 
Several bodies of them surrendered their arms and went quietly 
to their homes. A large body who had assembled for that pur- 
pose was, however, unexpectedly attacked by a body of mili- 
tary under Sir James Duffe. Being unprepared for the attack 
they fled, and were pursued with merciless slaughter. 

The chief agents in this massacre were a body of cavalry 
called Lord Jocelyn's Fox-hunters. The cruelties committed 
by these Orange yeomanry and the Protestant magistrates of 
the County Wexford, provoked an insurrection there more 



278 History of Ireland. 

fierce than in any other part of Ireland. The tortures inflicted 
by the miHtary were surpassed by these, which individuals were 
permitted to use at their own discretion. 

A sergeant, who from his ingenuity in devising tortures was 
nick-named "Tom the Devil," used always to put on the cap 
with melting pitch, which, running into the eyes of the victims, 
added blindness to their other pains. Another invention was 
to cut the hair in the form of a cross close by the roots, and, 
laying a train of powder in the furrow, set it on fire, and repeat 
the process for their amusement. 

A tall officer in the same regiment, called the "walking gal- 
lows," became on several occasions a substitute for a gibbet 
when it was necessary in some inconvenient place, where there 
was no tree handy, to inflict the punishment of half-hanging, 
or even death. The deliberate murder of twenty-eight pris- 
oners in the town of Carlow ; by the yeomanry, in presence of 
their officers, the burning of houses and Catholic churches, 
along with the tortures and whippings, drove the peasantry to 
arms. They were headed by two priests, who sympathized in 
the sufferings of the people, and were, besides, irritated at the 
destruction of their own houses. The people were divided into 
two bodies, which did not act in concert. One was easily de- 
feated ; the other was more fortunate, and not only defeated, 
but cut to pieces the regiment of the " walking gallows" and 
"Tom the Devil, " at Oulart Hill. The Patriots next attacked 
Enniscorthy, which was defended with great obstinacy, but the 
English were again defeated and fled in disorder to Wexford. 

The attack on Wexford must have failed if the English had 
made any attempt at resistance, but cruelty is usually the ally 
of cowardice, and the wretches who had driven the country to 
arms fled from the town without firing a shot. They left be- 
hind them many Loyalists, who had committed many outrages, 
and who were now at the mercy of those they had oppressed so 
cruelly. And it was only by the most unceasing exertions of 
the Catholic clergy and the leaders, that a general massacre of 
the Protestants was averted. 



History of Ireland. 279 

Newtonbarry was the next place attacked by the Patriots, and 
as at Wexford, the EngHsh retreated in disorder, without even 
attempting resistance. The remonstrances of Colonel West- 
enra induced the English to change their inglorious determina- 
tion. They returned to the town, and the victorious Patriots, 
flushed with a succession of victories, having relaxed their vig- 
ilance, were in their turn obliged to abandon the town. Next 
day they met and defeated a large detachment of the English, 
under Colonel Wallpole, but this was more than lost by their 
total defeat at Ross after a desperate engagement ; during most 
of the time victory seemed to be in their hands. 

The defeat at Ross was followed by a severe repulse of the 
Patriots at Arklow. The English were saved at Arklow by the 
valor of Colonel Skerritt, but for whom the town would have 
been deserted as scandalously as Wexford, and then Dublin 
would not have been safe. The Wexford men by this defeat 
lost their last chance of success, and were forced to wait inac- 
tively until the English had collected their strength for their 
destruction. 

Though Ulster was the parent of Irish Patriots, yet the mis- 
trust between leaders, and the flight of some, and the arrest of 
others, had so disconcerted their plans that the greater part of 
the province remained tranquil. But when the news of the 
success of their brethren in Wexford reached the north, a con- 
siderable number assembled in the neighborhood of Antrim, 
and by a furious attack nearly made themselves masters of the 
town. Not discouraged, they prepared to form an encampment, 
but learning that their efforts would not be seconded by the 
other counties, and the bigoted Protestants dreading the suc- 
cess of the Catholics in Wexford might end in Catholic equal- 
ity, or perhaps ascendancy, threw away their arms or surrendered 
them to their enemies. The Patriots in County Down took 
up arms and made several spirited attacks on the English. At 
Saintfield they completely routed a body of Yorkshire English- 
men, killing their leaders. They were attacked at Ballinahinch, 
and, after a desperate engagement, in which the success ob- 



280 History of Ireland. 

tained by valor was lost by want of discipline, were finally de- 
feated. 

Thus terminated the insurrection in Ulster, and the English 
were now able to direct all their forces against the brave men of 
Wexford. 

After the defeat at Arklow and Ross, the men of Wexford 
were forced to maintain a defensive warfare. Their hope was 
to protract the contest till succors could arrive from France. 
Their principal encampment was on Vinegar Hill, near the town 
of Inniscorthy. Here they were attacked by an English army 
of thirteen thousand men, with a formidable train of artillery. 
The struggle was of course brief. On the approach of the 
royal army to Vinegar Hill, the greater part of the Irish garri- 
son was withdrawn from Wexford. The citizens, wishing to 
save the town, waited on Lord Kingsborough, the English com- 
mander, and offered to surrender the town and procure the sub- 
mission of the peasantry if security to person and property was 
granted. Lord Kingsborough, having accepted these conditions, 
was placed in command of the town. 

When the townspeople waited on General Lake for the ratifi- 
cation of this treaty, he made to them the following reply, 
likely wishing to give his cowardly soldiers an opportunity of 
taking revenge for their former disgraceful abandonment of 
Wexford : ' ' Lieutenant General Lake cannot ratify any terms 
made by rebels in arms against their King. While they con- 
tinue so, he must use the force at his command for their de- 
struction. To the deluded peasants he offers pardon on their 
delivering into his hands their leaders, surrendering their arms 
and returning to their allegiance." On the faith of Kingsbor- 
ough's promise, the town of Wexford remained quiet. The 
army of the insurgents were preparing to disperse, the leaders 
returned to their homes, while those who had been cruel sought 
safety in flight. In the meantime, the army of the blood- 
thirsty Lake was advancing on Wexford, which his cowardly 
soldiers doomed to destruction more certain than Nineveh. 
Luckily, Sir John Moore, whose bravery equaled his humanity, 



History of Ireland. 281 

lay nearer the town than Lake, and having heard of the treaty, 
advanced to Wexford, thinking to check the violence of Lake 
and his soldiers, but he strove in vain. Those who deemed 
themselves safe under the treaty were seized, after being sub- 
jected to indignities shocking to humanity. The country was 
abandoned to the mercies of Lake's soldiers, and suffered every 
calamity that lust, rapine and ruffianism could inflict. It is im- 
possible to give even an imperfect idea of such horrors ; they 
are unparalleled in the annals of human crime. 

Courts-martial were then held for the trial of the leaders' 
They had been trusting to the treaty, and also believing those Prot- 
estants v.'hose lives they had saved frpm the fury of the mob 
would plead in their behalf, but these ungrateful wretches, 
either through fear or prejudice, or perhaps both, spoke not a 
word in their behalf. Even Lord Kingsborough, who made the 
treaty, acted as a member of the court-martial by whom these 
men were tried, and the Parliament voted ' ' Well done, good 
and faithful servants, " by passing acts of attainder and forfeiture 
against these men after their death. 

The Patriots, driven to despair after the breach of the treaty, 
hopeless of success, and yet afraid to lay down their arms, car- 
ried on a desultory war, hurrying from county to county through 
the centre of Ireland. 

Some ninety Wexford men, after they found all was lost, 
fought their way from place to place until they came to the hill 
of Tara, and made their last stand on the banks of the river 
Boyne. 

From Wexford town to where the tide of Boyne's bright water flows, 
Throughout the long, long summer day they stood against their foes; 
Though few in numbers, faint and weak, that young and gallant band 
Kept proudly flying to the last the green flag of their land. 

In Enniscorthy's blazing streets, and Gorey's crimson town, 

Before their wild and rushing charge the English flag went down. 

And when at last the cause was lost and hope of succor o'er. 

They fought their way from Slaney's side to Boyne's far distant shore. 



282 History of Ireland. 

Wearied and worn, at last they stand upon that ancient hill, 
Once graced by Ireland's warlike chiefs, and blessed by Columbkille. 
Around them fiercely roar and surge, in serried, close platoons, 
The hireling slaves of royalty, King George's fierce dragoon's. 

Oh, God ! it was a fearful sight ! beneath the blessed sky, 
To see these dark and scowling men and hear their savage cry, 
As up the green hillside they rush against the faithful few. 
Who stand alone beneath their flag, to God and country true. 

Alone, and few, and faint and weak, but oh ! defiant still, 
To meet that fierce and savage charge they form upon the hill ; 
No craven heart, nor faltering hand, nor trembling lip was there. 
Fearless and free they proudly stand, with pike and bayonet bare. 

They meet, and from that rugged shock King George's troops recoil, 
Their ranks are thinned and scattered wide, and gory is the soil ; 
Again they form one living mass, and up the hillside go, 
Again are chased by Irish pikes down to the vale below. 

Thus singly and alone, throughout that long, long summer day, 
Against a host of savage foes they boldly stood at bay. 
Until one-half their little band lay on the hillside dead. 
Yet still the remnant proudly kept their flag above their head. 

'Tis evening, and the summer's sun is sinking in the west, 
His last beams linger on the hill, and gild its heathy crest, 
And as his parting light recedes, and twilight settles down, 
Their flag still floats upon the hill, their pikes its summit ci-own. 

Then spoke the English leader thus, and raised his hand on high, 
" Your fight is vain, and pity 'tis that such brave men should die ; 
Lay down your arms, and here I swear, and pledge a soldier's word. 
Free and unscathed you all depart, unharmed by fire or sword." 

One moment looked they on their flag that waved so proudly there, 
Then on the foe, to pierce his ranks 'twere instant death to dare. 
Trusting a soldier's plighted word their arms to earth are thrown, 
And they stand unarmed before the foe, defenceless and alone. 

But opened not the English ranks, nor turned their blades aside, 
Alas ! brave, trusting Irish hearts far better you had died, 



History of Ireland. 283 

Far better fall beneath your flag, armed with a freeman's sword, 
Than trust a robber's plighted faith, false England's perjured word. 

A thousand levelled muskets flash, and scatter death around. 
Till the last man of that brave band, lay stretched upon the ground. 
Where England's might and wealth and power, and England's valor failed. 
Dark fraud and hellish treachery against them had prevailed. 

Above their tomb the shamrocks blow on Tara's ancient hill, 
And on that holy sacred mount they slumber calm and still, , 
And Eatriots say, when comes the day our country's flag shall wave, 
'Tvall proudly float on Tara's Hill, above the "Croppy's Grave." 

Though the insurrection was confined to Wexford, the reign 
of terror extended over the whole south and east. The high 
sheriff of Tipperary, flogged severely a gentleman named Wright 
for having in his possession a complimentary note written in 
the French language, of which the worthy sheriff was unfortun- 
ately ignorant. In the town of Youghall, one Desmond, after 
being severely flogged, was hanged in front of the jail, on evi- 
dence obtained by torture. His brother, then confined in the 
same prison, was forced to witness the execution, and soldiers 
were placed behind him with drawn bayonets to prevent him 
from turning away his eyes from the horrid spectacle. 

A kind of treaty was made between the prisoners confined in 
Dublin and the English. Their lives were offered them on con- 
dition of giving every information connected with what the 
English called the conspiracy. A garbled account of their ex- 
aminations was published, but still enough was known to show 
that, if the insurrection was not encouraged by the English, it 
was deliberately waited for and suffered to increase in numbers, 
regardless of the blood and treasure required to put it down. 

The total loss of property in this struggle was not less than 
three millions of pounds sterling. Of the English about twenty 
thousand fell, but of the Patriots not less than fifty thousand 
were either killed in the war or deliberately murdered by the 
court-martials, or in courts of law where both judge and juries 
were owned and paid by the English. But the utter demoraliza- 
tion of the triumphant party was the worst consequence of this 



284 History of Ireland. 

lamentable struggle. Men learned to take an infernal delight in 
the tortures and sufferings of their fellow-men. Revenge, big- 
otry, and all the evil passions of both had full sway. Perjury, 
paid for in English gold, united with evidence obtained by tor- 
ture. Robbery, murder and licentious crime committed with 
impunity destroyed every friendly tie between the native and 
foreign elements, as well as every moral obligation. And even 
now, after two generations have passed away, the consequences 
are not quite effaced. 

The French Directory during the continuance of the struggle 
in Wexford, made no effort to assist the Irish, but late in Au- 
gust, when all was over, a small force of eleven hundred men 
landed at Killala and soon gained possession of the town. General 
Hutchison hastened from Gal way, and soon assembled a vastly su- 
perior force, but was superceded in the command by the arrival of 
Lake, to the cruelty and cowardice of whose soldiers may be at- 
tributed the disgraceful events that followed. A British army of 
over four thousand men, and supported by fourteen pieces of can- 
non, fled almost without firing a shot, from 800 Frenchmen and 
about a thousand unarmed Irish peasants. Want of means pre- 
vented the French General (Humbert) from pursuing the flying 
English, but he baffled all efforts of the enemy for nearly a month, 
when, being surrounded by an army of thirty thousand men, he 
was obliged to surrender. The peasants by whom he was joined, 
being excluded from quarter, were pursued with great severity. 
The English on entering the town committed several outrages, 
murdering not only the Catholics, but many unfortunate Prot- 
estants who came to greet them as deliverers. This cruelty was 
the more unjustifiable, as during the brief contest no blood had 
been shed except in battle. 

Scarcely had the insurrection ended when the question of 
Union began to be agitated. It was at first so unpopular that 
all classes opposed it, but the English, by a mixture of corrup- 
tion and cunning, effectually broke the strength of the opposi- 
tion. The measure was rejected by Parliament in 1799, ^^^ ^y 
a lavish profusion of bribes the same House adopted it in the 
next session by a large majority. The Catholics were induced 



History of h' eland. 285 

to give tacit assent, though certainly with reluctance, by the 
promise of emancipation. While, at the very same time, prom- 
ises were given to the Orangemen that the Catholics should be 
still more cruelly treated, and at length, after unparalleled scenes 
of bribery and deception, the Irish legislature assented to its 
own destruction. 

Tha breach of faith with the Catholics by the refusal of eman- 
cipation was what might have been expected. The mainten- 
ance of hostility between those who held the lands stolen by 
their ancestors, and the descendants of those from whom these 
lands had been taken, produced a state of society which must 
have been witnessed to be understood. England fostered and 
aided those who held the ill-gotten gains of the Puritans, knowing 
that her strength in Ireland was in the divisions of the people 
and there only. And when emancipation, after being long 
delayed, was finally passed, so ungraciously was the boon con- 
ferred, that the bigot and zealot could still look upon the Cath- 
olics as a degraded class. 

The revolution of 1798 was now over; for the time England 
prevailed, and gave up the country to spies, informers and rob- 
bers. The majority of the Irish chiefs were either in captivity 
or exile. The jails were crammed with Patriots awaiting a 
speedy execution. Hope had fled from the hearts of the peo- 
ple ; the land was saturated with blood, and ruin was pictured 
on all the towns and villages. The executioners were busy, 
and the work of death went on. No mercy was shown to the 
brave patriots who had stoutly battled for their country's free- 
dom ; they were slaughtered like dogs by the English soldiers 
and their allies, the Orange yeomen. 

Among those who had fought and braved the might of Eng- 
land was 

MICHAEL DWYER, 

as true a patriot and as brave a soldier as ever marched to bat- 
tle. When the Irish were forced to submit to the enemy, the 
bold Dwyer, spurning all terms, and filled with hatred of the 
invaders, fought his vay to the glens of Wicklow, and with a few 



286 History of Ireland. 

followers carried on a guerilla warfare for years. His band sel- 
dom amounted to more than fifty men, yet all the soldiers in 
Wicklowwere unable to conquer him. He destroyed, by adroit 
ambuscades, sharp-shooting, and astonishing dexterity, every 
company of the enemy sent in pursuit of him, and generally 
contrived to escape with little loss. A strong detachment from 
a Highland regiment was sent especially in pursuit of him, with 
promise of rich reward, to be divided among the men and offi- 
cers, should they succeed in his capture. These Scotchmen, 
flushed with resolve and the hope of a rich reward, were, never- 
theless, nearly every one killed after six or seven days fighting 
in the mountains. About a dozen returned to tell the sad tale. 
The Scottish blood was aroused by this defeat, and nearly the 
whole regiment volunteered to go and capture the rebel chief. 
Being promised a still greater reward for his capture, dead or 
alive, they commenced their pursuit. Dwyer eluded his pur- 
suers several days and nights. His band was reduced by death 
and wounds to eighteen or twenty, every man of whom was 
determined to sell his life dearly. A week was now spent in 
this desultory warfare, during which Dwyer lost not a man, but 
brought down man)^ of his Scotch pursuers. His lieutenant, 
McAlister, and himself, with their little party, having stopped 
one night to take food and rest at a farmhouse, their pursuers 
came upon them. Dwyer and McAlister lay in a barn, while 
Quinn, his second lieutenant, and the rest of the party lay down 
n the dwelling. They appointed, as usual, a sentinel, but in 
the night the pursuing party were seen entering the farmyard, 
and the guard had only time to alarm those who slept in the 
house, who got off, but the Scotchmen surrounded both build- 
ings, and finding the doors of the barn not opened to them fired 
in. Dwyer and his companion were ready to receive them, and 
fired on the Scotchmen through a small window in the barn. 
Some of the Highlanders fell dead, which excited the others to 
madness. They set fire to the barn, and still Dwyer and Mc- 
Alister kept up their fire on their assailants, managing to avoid 
all their volleys. At length they must surrender ; there was no 
escape ; but ere they did so McAlister proposed to his captain 



Histori/ of Ireland. 287 

the sacrifice of his own Hfe to the chance of preserving his, 
which for fidelity and disinterestedness is not surpassed in his- 
tory. "There is now, " said he, "but one way for you to escape. 
I will unbolt the door, jump out amongst them ; they will take 
me for you, and discharge all their guns at me. At that instant 
you may rush out and perhaps escape." Dwyer reluctantly 
assented. It happened just as McAlister anticipated. He re- 
ceived the contents of twenty loaded guns. Dwyer at this crit- 
ical moment rushed through the ranks of the Scotchmen, killing 
three of them with his clubbed musket, and escaped. It was a 
bold deed, but these Scotchmen carried no revolvers, and before 
they could reload their guns, the bold outlaw escaped. He held 
the mountains and glens of Wicklow until a general amnesty 
was offered him and his men, and seeing he could be of no fur- 
ther service to his country for the time he laid down his arms. 
He was confined in jail for a time but afterwards released and 
pardoned. 

Trials by court-martial followed the success of the English as 
a matter of course. The fate of the victims drew tears from 
their enemies, for most of those condemned by the English had 
been conspicuous for their humanity and generosity. 

A second attempt was made by the French in the following 
month. A small squadron, sent from Brest, was discovered off 
the coast of Ulster by Admiral Warren, and forced to engage at 
a great disadvantage. The Hoche, of eighty guns, and six 
frigates were captured, and thus ended the projects of the French 
for the conquest or liberation of Ireland. 

On board the French fleet, among the prisoners, was 

THEOBALD WOLFE TONE, 

an Irishman who had rendered himself conspicuous by the ability 
and talent with which he had supported the cause of his coun- 
try. He was discovered among the French officers by one Sir 
George Hill, who had been a classmate of his at college. This 
Hill had joined the Orangemen, the enemies of their country, 
and who have always been ready to do the dirty work of Eng- 
land. The French officers were invited to dine with the Earl of 



288 History of Ireland. 

Cavan. While they were seated at table Hill entered, followed 
by some police officers. Looking narrowly at the company he 
singled out his victim, whom, Judas like, he addressed with a 
friendly salutation. Tone was immediately seized by the police, 
heavily ironed, and sent a prisoner to Dublin, where he was 
tried and sentenced to death as a matter of course. Curran and 
Burrows, the only lawyers that would venture to show sympathy 
for a victim under " the reign of terror, " brought the case before 
the Court of King's Bench, but ere the case was decided news 
arrived that Tone had committed suicide. Poor Tone ! how sad 
to think that so brave and so bright a man should be reduced to 
the necessity of being his own executioner, or be hanged like a 
dog — for well he knew that an English court knew nothing of 
either justice or mercy when passing sentence on an Irishman. 

The English, in another instance, showed their malice and 
desire for vengeance on patriotic Irishmen. They caused James 
Napper Tandy to be arrested at Hamburg, in violation of neu- 
trality laws; but dreading retaliation by the French, they feared 
to take his life. He was tried at Lifford, condemned, and finally 
pardoned on condition of forever quitting the country. Tone's 
address before the court-martial is given by his son, in his life 
of his father, in the following words. Being called upon to 
plead guilty or not guilty, he said : 

''Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Court-martial — I mean 
not to give you the trouble of bringing proof to convict me of 
having acted in hostility to the government of England. I ad- 
mit the fact. From my earliest youth I have regarded the con- 
nection between Ireland and England as the curse of the Irish 
people, and felt convinced that whilst it lasted this country would 
never be happy. My mind has been confirmed in this by the 
experience of each succeeding year. In consequence, I deter- 
mined to apply all my power to efiect a separation of the two 
countries. That Ireland was unable herself to throw off the 
yoke I knew. I therefore sought aid wherever it was to be 
found. In honorable poverty I rejected the offer of British gold 
as a reward for betraying the cause of my country, and sought 



History of Ireland. 289 

in the French repubHc an ally to rescue three millions of my 
countrymen from" 

The President here interrupted the prisoner, observing that 
the language was not such as could be tolerated in a public 
court. One member said it was intended to inflame the minds 
of rebels, many of whom no doubt were listeners, and that there- 
fore the court ought not to suffer it. The Judge-Advocate said 
he thought that if the prisoner meant this paper to be laid before 
his Excellency, in way of extenuation, it must have quite a con- 
trary effect, if what has been said is suffered to remain. 

Tone — "I shall urge this topic no further, since it seems to 
be disagreeable to the court ; but shall proceed to read the few 
words which remain. " 

General Loftus — " If the remainder of the address, Mr. Tone, 
is of the same complexion with what you have already read, 
you may proceed ; you have heard the opinion of the court." 

Tone — " I believe there is nothing in what remains to be said 
can give offence. I mean to express my gratitude toward the 
Catholics, in whose cause I was engaged, though not of their 
creed." 

General Loftus — "That seems to have no bearing on the 
charge against you, to which only you are allowed to speak. If 
you have anything to offer in defence of the charge, the court 
will hear you, but they will confine you to that subject." 

Tone — "I shall, then, confine myself to my connection with 
the French army, in which I obtained the confidence of the 
executive, the approbation of my generals, and, I venture to 
say the esteem and affection of my brave comrades in arms. 

' 'When I review these circumstances, I feel a consolation which 
no reverse of fortune, no sentence of this court can weaken. 
Under the flag of the French Republic I originally engaged 
with a view to liberate my own country. For that purpose I 
have encountered the chances of war amongst strangers; for 
that purpose I have repeatedly braved the terrors of the ocean, 
covered, as I knew it to be, with the fleets of that power which 
it was my duty and my glory to oppose. I have sacrificed all 
my views in life ; I have courted poverty ; I have left a beloved 



290 History of Ireland. 

wife unprotected, and children whom I adored, fatherless. After 
such sacrifices in a cause which I always conscienciously consid- 
ered the cause of justice and freedom, it is no great effort at this 
day to add the sacrifice of my life. In a cause like this, success 
is everything. Success, in the eyes of the world, fixes its mer- 
its. Washington succeeded, and Kosciusko failed ! After a 
combat nobly sustained, a combat which would have excited 
the respect and sympathy of a generous enemy, my fate was to 
become a prisoner. To the eternal shame of those who gave 
the order, I was brought here in chains like a felon ! I mention 
this for the sake of others ; for me, I am indifferent to it. I am 
aware of my fate, and scorn supplication or complaint. 

' ' As to the connection between this country and England, I 
repeat it, all that has been imputed to me, words, writings and 
actions, I here deliberately avow. I have spoken and acted 
with reflection, and on principle, and am ready to meet the con- 
sequences. Whatever be the sentence of this court, I am pre- 
pared for it. " 

This speech was pronounced in a tone so full of noble and 
calm serenity, as seemed deeply to affect all hearers, the mem- 
bers of the court not excepted. Silence reigned in the hall for 
some time, till interrupted by Tone himself, who inquired 
whether it was not usual to assign an interval between the sen- 
tence and execution. The Judge- Advocate answered that the 
voice of the court would be collected without delay, and the 
result sent to the Lord-Lieutenant. If the prisoner, therefore, 
had any further observations to make, now was the time. 

Tone — " I wish to offer a few words relative to the mode of 
punishment. In France, persons who stand in the same posi- 
tion you claim I stand before you now, are condemned to be 
shot. I wish to die the death of a soldier, and be shot by a 
platoon of grenadiers. I request this more in consideration of 
the uniform which I wear than from any personal regard to my. 
self, and I beg that the court would examine my commission 
and letters of service in the French army, in order to show that 
I have not received them as a mask to save me, but that I have 
been lonsr a bonafide officer in the French service. " 



History of Ireland. 291 

Judge- Advocate — "You must feel that the papers you allude 
to will serve as proofs against you ? " 

Tone — -"Oh! I know it will. I have already admitted the 
facts." 

The papers were then examined. They were signed by the 
French Directory and Minister of War, granting him the rank 
of Adjutant-General, and of a passport. 

General Loftus — "In these papers you are designated as serv- 
ing in the army for the invasion of England." 

Tone — " I did serve in that army when it was commanded by 
Bonaparte, by Desaix and by Kilmain, who is, as I am, an 
Irishman. But I have served elsewhere. " 

General Loftus observed that the court would, undoubtedly, 
submit to the Lord-Lieutenant the address which he had read 
to them, and also the subject of his last request. In doing so, 
however, he took care to efface the greater part of it, and the 
last request of the prisoner was refused by Lord Cornwallis, 
and he was sentenced to die the death of a traitor on the 12th 
of November, forty-eight hours after his trial. This cruelty he 
foresaw ; for England, from the days of Llewelyn of Wales 
and Wallace of Scotland, to the tortures of the unfortunate 
Fenians in our own days, has never shown mercy or generosity 
to a fallen enemy. He then determined to anticipate their sen- 
tence by self-destruction. 

The sentence pronounced by the court-martial upon Tone was 
obviously illegal, and so every lawyer knew it to 'be. But the 
people looked on in stupor. The son of Tone has described 
the condition of Dublin at that time : 

* ' No man dared to trust his neighbor, nor by look or word 
betray his feelings or sympathy. The terror in Paris under the 
Jacobins, or in Rome under Nero, was never more universal 
than that of Ireland at this time. And this same feeling caused 
them to passively acquiesce in the union, and their name as a 
nation." 

"Of the numerous friends of my father," says young Tone, 
"who had shared in his political principles and career, many 
had perished on the scaffold, others were confined in dungeons, 



292 History of Ireland. 

and the remainder dreaded, by the slightest mark of recogni- 
tion, to be involved in his fate." 

But there was one friend of the gallant prisoner who was de- 
termined to make an effort to rescue this noble Irishman from 
the jaws of death. This friend was 

JOHN PHILLPOT CURRAN. 

He moved that another trial be held in the Court of King's 
Bench, thinking the French government might threaten to re- 
taliate on some of their English prisoners of war, and the case 
become a criminal and not a political one, and in the end Tone 
might be saved. On the next day, November 1 2th, the day 
fixed for his execution, the scene in the King's Bench was awful 
in the highest degree. When the court opened, Curran ad- 
vanced, leading the aged father of Tone, who filed an affidavit 
that his son had been brought before a bench calling itself a 
court-martial, and sentenced to death. " I maintain," said 
Curran, ' ' that my client had no commission from the King of 
England, and, therefore, no court-martial could have any cogni- 
zance of any crime imputed to him, while the King's Bench sat 
in the capacity of the great criminal court of the land. My 
client must appear in this court. He is sentenced to death this 
very day. He may be ordered to execution while I address 
you. I call upon this court to support the law, and move for a 
habeas corpus, to be directed to the Provost Marshal of the 
barracks of Dublin and Major Sandys, to bring up the body of 
my client." 

Chief Justice — "■ Have a writ instantly prepared." 
Curran — " My client may die while the writ is preparing." 
Chief Justice — "Mr. Sheriff, proceed to the barracks and ac- 
quaint the Provost Marshal that a writ is preparing to suspend 
Mr. Tone's execution." 

The court waited in a state of the utmost agitation and sus- 
pense the return of the sheriff. He speedily returned, and said : 
" My Lord, I have been to the barracks, in pursuance of your 
orders. The Provost Marshal says he must obey Major Sandys, 
and Sandys says he must obey Lord Cornwallis. " 



History of Ireland. 293 

On hearing this, the Chief Justice exclaimed: " Mr. Sheriff, 
take the body of Tone into custody, and also take the Provost 
Marshal and Major Sandys into custody, and show the order of 
this court to General Craig." 

The general impression was now that the prisoner would be 
executed in defiance of the court. The sheriff at length re- 
turned with the fatal news. He was refused admittance to the 
barracks, but was informed that Mr. Tone was not in a condi- 
tion to be removed, having, wounded himself dangerously in the 
neck on the night before. The brutal English soldiers, while 
erecting a gallows for him in the yard before his window, acted 
with such levity and provoked him so, that he cut his throat 
with a knife ; but it was not effectually done, and he lingered in 
that dungeon, stretched on his bloody pallet, seven days and 
nights. No friend was allowed access to him, and the prison 
surgeon, a French Huguenot, one of those pests of France, 
was his mortal enemy. At length he died. The English al- 
lowed his body to be carried away by a relative, and it was 
buried in the little church-yard of Bordertown, County Kildare, 
where Thornas Davis had a monument erected to his memory. 
."Thus passed away," says Madden, "one of the master-spirits 
of his time. The curse of Swift was upon him — he was an 
Irishman. Had he been a native of any other European 
country, his talents would have raised him to the highest honors 
in the state. His name lives, however, and his memory will 
survive as long as Ireland has a history. " 

The expenses incurred in exciting the insurrection, next in 
suppressing it, and finally in carrying out its real object--a legis- 
lative union — are estimated by Madden as follows : 

Cost of military force kept in Ireland from 1797 to 1802 ^{^16,000,000 

Purchase of the Irish Parliament, viz. : buying votes for the Union... 1,500,000 

Payment of claims of loyalists and secret service money* 2,500,000 

Pensions paid for services in suppressing the rebellion 1,200,000 

Increased expenses of legal and judicial tribunals 500,000 

The removal of the archives and pay of officers, servants, &c 800,000 

Total ^22,500,000 

••■This secret service money was paid to traitors and informers. 



294 History of Ireland. 

The whole of this amount, over one hundred millions of dol- 
lars, was the next year, in the arrangement of the terms of the 
Union, carried to the account of Ireland, and made part of her 
national debt. 

The Orangemen, these born and sworn enemies of Ireland, 
were all for the Union, and both the Grand Master and Grand 
Secretary being members of Parliament, voted for it on its final 
passage. 

The countless petitions poured in, almost all against the 
Union, were signed by both Catholics and Protestants, Plowden 
says : ' ' The nobility and gentry, and many of the clergy of the 
Cathohc church, were in favor of the Union." He accounts 
for this by the term " Papist and rebel " producing soreness in 
the minds of many. But, undoubtedly, the cause of the lead- 
ing Catholics supporting the Union, was the false promises of 
the ministers, both in England and Ireland, that the Union, and 
that only, would remove all impediments to emancipation. 
There was, however, some who were not so easily deluded. The 
trading and commercial Catholics of Dublin were vehemently 
opposed to the Union, and a meeting was held at the Exchange, 
to deliver their opinions upon it. Lord Clare's first thought 
was to disperse the meeting by military force, but better coun- 
sels prevailed, and the meeting was held, Mr. Ambrose Moore 
in the chair. 

No less a person than 

DANIEL O'CONNELL, 

then a rising young barrister, took a leading part in this meet- 
ing, and protested, with patriotic earnestness, against the Union, 
which half a century later he laid down his life in the effort to 
repeal. He said, "Ithasbeen asserted by the advocates of the 
Union that the Catholics were friends of the measure, and 
silent allies to that conspiracy formed against the liberties of 
Ireland. Every Union speech and pamphlet held forth that 
Catholics sanctioned a measure which would ruin the country, 
and there was none to refute the calumny. Sir," continued 



History of Ireland. 295 

O'Connell, "it is my sentiment, and I am satisfied it is the sen- 
timent of every one who hears me, that if our opposition to 
this injurious and insulting Union were to draw upon us the 
revival of the penal laws, we would sooner once more be at the 
mercy of our Protestant brethren than give our assent to the 
political murder of our country. Although exclusive advan- 
tages have been held out to the Catholics to seduce them from 
the duty they owe their country, the Catholics of Ireland still 
remember that they have a country, and that this Union would 
debase and destroy them as a people." 

After which, O'Connell moved certain resolutions, which 
were unanimously adopted. The first of these was, "Re- 
solved, That the Union of the legislatures of Great Britain and 
Ireland would reduce this country to the condition of a province, 
to be taxed at the pleasure of England, without having any 
means of redress. " 

Harrington states, and O'Connell affirms, that seven hundred 
thousand persons petitioned against the Union, and only three 
thousand petitioned for it, and most of these were government 
officers, Protestant preachers, and prisoners in the jails, who 
signed with the hope of pardon. Castlereagh now boldly an- 
nounced his intention to turn the scale of bribes to all who 
would accept them. He first declared that every nobleman who 
returned a member to Parliament should be paid in cash fifteen 
thousand pounds for every vote. Secondly, that every mem- 
ber who purchased a seat in Parliament should have the money 
repaid out of the treasury of Ireland. Thirdly, that all persons 
who were losers by the Union should be fully recompensed, 
and that one million five hundred thousand pounds should be 
appropriated to this service. In other words, all who would 
support the Union were, under some pretext, to share in this 
bank of corruption. This large sum of money had a powerful 
effect, and before the meeting of Parliament John Bull knew 
that he could count on a small majority of about eight. This 
he hoped to increase, as he had now one hundred and fifty 
thousand armed men in Ireland. Verily, no other Parliament or 
Congress has ever been tempted so. If bribery on the same 



296 History of Ireland. 

scale, say one billion of dollars, were now judiciously distributed 
in the English Parliament, enough votes could no doubt be ob- 
tained to annex that country to the United States. 

The placemen, pensioners and bribe-takers who voted for the 
Union — it were better to forget them, but their names and 
crimes are a portion of history, and it may be interesting to the 
reader to know that many of the great families of the present 
day in Ireland obtained their titles and laid the foundation of 
their fortunes by selling out to John Bull and voting for the 
Union. And when we consider the material of which the Irish 
Parliament was composed, our wonder is there were any patriots 
among them. Every member was, with few exceptions, the 
lineal descendant of a robber, and held their property, if they 
held any, in Ireland, by no better right than the highwayman 
holds the purse of his victim. 

The lamented 

ROBERT EMMETT 

was then about twenty-four years of age. He had seen the 
atrocities of '98, and the frauds and villainies by which the 
Union was accomplished. He saw his country still under mar- 
tial law, and by means of packed juries and Orange magistrates 
effectively deprived of justice. The purity of his motives has 
never been questioned, even by his enemies. He desired to 
see his countrymen of all creeds enjoying the rights of human 
beings, and having laws to govern them that they might rever- 
ence and obey, not curse and abhor. Emmett's plan of insur- 
rection was, while agents were organizing the country, to make 
preparations in the city of Dublin itself; then, when all was 
ready, to seize the authorities and give the signal for a general 
insurrection from Dublin Castle. There is good military author- 
ity for approving this plan of a rising in Ireland, and it would 
surely have succeeded but for a fatal accident. 

The gallant Miles Byrne, after many a campaign as a French 
officer in every quarter of Europe, avowed his preference for 
Emmett's scheme to every other, in the circumstances of Ire- 



History of Ireland. 297 

land. He says, in speaking of that part of his career: "I 
shall ever feel proud of the part I took with the lamented Rob- 
ert Emmett. I have often asked myself how could I have done 
otherwise ? His plans were perfect, and only frustrated by ac- 
cident and the explosion of a depot, and, as I have always said, 
the plans of Emmett will be the best for Irishmen in their efforts 
to obtain freedom some future day. First take the capital and 
the provinces will raise the same standard immediately." Byrne 
says : ' ' As I was to be one of those persons designed to co- 
operate with Emmett in taking the Castle of Dublin, I shall 
relate the part allotted to me in this daring enterprise. I was to 
have assembled early in the evening of Saturday, the 23d of 
July, 1803, at the house of Dennis Redmond, on the coal quay, 
the Wexford and Wicklow men, to whom I was to distribute 
pikes, arms and ammunition, and a little before dark I was to 
send one of the men, known to Emmett, to tell him we were 
armed and ready to follow him. Men were placed in Ship street 
ready to seize on the entrance to the castle on that side, at the 
same moment the principal gate would be taken. Emmett was 
to leave the depot in Thomas street at dusk, with six hackney 
coaches, in each of which were to ride men armed with pikes 
and blunderbusses, concealed under their coats. The moment 
they passed Redmond's house we were to follow them quickly 
into the castle-yard, and there to seize and disarm all the sen- 
tries and replace them with our own men. The morning of the 
23d of July found Emmett and those in whom he confided, not 
of one mind ; there was division in their counsels ; part of his 
plans were defeated, as he imagined, by accident, or ignorance, 
or neglect, on the part of his agents. But it never occurred to 
him that he was betrayed ! Nor is there any satisfactory evi- 
dence of treason on the part of those he trusted. The ending of 
this sad tale is soon told. The Wicklow men, under Dwyer, 
on whom great dependence was placed, had not yet arrived ; 
the messenger sent to warn Dwyer, by Emmett, neglected his 
duty. The Kildare men came in and were informed by a traitor 
that Emmett had postponed his attempt, and they went back at 
five o'clock in the afternoon. The Wexford men came in, three 



298 Historii of Ireland. 

hundred strong, and staid in the city all night, ready to take the 
part assigned to them, but they received no orders. A large 
body of men assembled at Broadstone, waiting for the rocket 
signal agreed upon, but no such signal was made." 

It was evident that Emmett to the last looked foi large bodies 
of men, and that he was deceived. At eight o'clock in the 
evening he had eighty men collected in the depot at Marshalsea 
lane. A man just then reported that the soldiers were march- 
ing upon them, which was not true. Yet it seems to have been 
believed by both Emmett and his friends. It was tlien he re- 
solved to sally out with such following as he had, march upon 
the Castle, and, if necessary, meet death by the way. Even 
this happiness of dying yvith arms in his hands was not reserved 
for that unfortunate gentleman. Emmett halted his men at the 
market house, with the view of restoring order, but tumult pre- 
vailed. During his ineffectual efforts word was brought that 
Lord Kilwarden was killed. He proceeded toward the scene of 
slaughter and in a few minutes returned. From that moment 
he gave up hope of effecting anything. He and a few leaders 
abandoned their project and their followers. 

A detachment of soldiers made their appearance and com- 
menced firing on the insurgents, who immediately fled in all 
directions. The rout was general in less than an hour. The 
whole was now over; all was lost, yet Miles Byrne was in Coal 
Quay with his two hundred picked Wexford men awaiting 
orders that had been agreed upon. And the brave and gallant 
Dwyer was ready with his outlaws, and the Kildare men were 
under arms awaiting a messenger. They were all left without 
orders. After the failure Emmett proceeded to the Wicklow 
mountains, where he found the insurgents preparing to attack 
the English garrison in some of the towns in that county. To 
this Emmett objected, knowing it would lead to no successful 
issue. His friends pressed him to make his escape, but he had 
resolved on seeing one person, dearer to him than life, before 
leaving the country. That person was Sarah Curran, the daugh- 
ter of the celebrated advocate Phillpot Curran. With the hope 
of seeing her pass by Harold's Cross, which was on the road 



History of Ireland. 299 

from her father's house to Dublin, he returned to his lodgings 
at Harold's Cross. Here, on the 24th of August, he was arrested 
by Major Sirr. 

On Monday, September 19th, 1803, Emmett was put on trial 
for treason, and as a matter of course condemned to death. 
How nobly Emmett defended his actions and his cause is in his 
last speech, as known to all who have read Irish history. 

A large number of the bravest and purest men of Ireland, 
having now within four years, been either hanged, banished or 
shot, it was hoped by John Bull that the Protestant ascendancy 
and British connection, viz: the tithes, the packed juries, in 
short the British constitution in church and state, were at last 
secure, and that Ireland was completely at his mercy. 

A reward of fifty pounds sterling was now offered for each of 
the rebels who appeared in arms in the streets of Dublin on the 
night of Saturday the 23d of July, and the wages of informers 
was raised all over the country — in fact, swearing falsely for pay- 
ment was the only profitable calhng in Ireland. The whole of 
the yeomanry were put upon duty at the enormous expense of 
^100,000 per month. In Cork every householder was obliged 
to affix the names of their family upon their door, and in Bel- 
fast the citizens were not allowed to leave their houses after eight 
o'clock in the evening. Every house in the city of Dublin was 
searched for arms, and the names of the inmates of each house 
required to be posted on the outer door. 

At the special commission which tried Emmett, twenty per- 
sons were tried for then- lives. Of these one was acquitted and 
one respited, all the rest were hung. 

The advocates of the Union held that the measure would place 
the two countries on an equality, as regards trade and commerce. 
The fallacy of this is now well understood. It is true the laws 
regulating trade and commerce are the same in both islands. 
Ireland may now export even woolen cloth to England ; she may 
export, in her own ships, tea from China and sugar from Barba- 
does. The laws by which England made these acts penal offences 
no longer exist, simply because they are no longer needed; 
these laws were kept in force till Ireland was ruined. England 



300 llisfory of Ireland. 

has the manufacturing machinery and skill, of which Ireland was 
deprived by express laws made for that purpose. To create or 
recover these great industrial and commercial resources, in the 
face of wealthy rivals already in full possession, is impossible 
without one or other of two conditions — either immense capital 
or protective duties. By the Union the money of Ireland was 
drained away to England, and by the Union Ireland is deprived 
of imposing protective duties. It was for this purpose the Union 
was forced upon Ireland. 

Much surprise, no doubt, has been expressed by those unac- 
quainted with Ireland that the tranquilization of the country did 
not immediately follow the passage of the emancipation bill in 
1829. But those acquainted with Ireland can scarcely feel any 
wonder on the subject. The no-popery laws produced many 
evils not mentioned in their enactments, and much greater calam- 
ities resulted from their indirect, than their direct, operation. 

These laws were all made to protect the landlords, who exulted 
in the tenant's misery, and caused the tenant, not unjustly, to 
regard his landlord as a tyrant. 

The Irish Parliament, during its exclusively Protestant exist- 
ence, passed laws by the hundreds to arm these landlords with 
fresh powers, but not one single enactment appears on their 
records for securing to the cultivator any share in his industry. 
These Irish landlords, so far from rejoicing in the prosperity of 
their tenants, considered that each additional comfort was ob 
tained from their own pockets, and at once demand an increase 
of rent. Hence the Irish peasant must act the pauper, because 
poverty is his surest protection ; and hence he is always ready to 
join in the wildest scheme of insurrection, because no change in 
his circumstances could be for the worse. 

And now when Englishmen and Scotchmen make laws to gov- 
ern unhappy Ireland, they still disregard the interest of the 
farming and laboring population ; and till a change of the whole 
system, not only of law but of custom, takes place in the rela- 
tions between Irish landlords and Irish tenants, the country must 
remain in misery. John Mitchell, in his address to the electors 
of Tipperary, Ireland, dated New York, February 3, 1875, says: 



History of IreJand. 301 

"I am in favor of Home Rule, that is, the sovereign indepen- 
dence of Ireland. I shall seek the total overthrow of the estab- 
lished church ; universal tenant right and abolition of ejectments ; 
free education, that is, denominational education for those who 
prefer it, education without religion for those who like that, 
with the express provision in the law that no person shall be 
taxed for educating his neighbor's children." 

Now to the overthrow of the established church, everybody 
will say amen ! amen ! And to tax the poor to educate the chil- 
dren of the rich, is a pea from the same pod. But universal 
tenant right presupposes universal landlord right, as how have 
tenants without landlords. Whenever we recognize the owner- 
ship of the soil to abide in somebody other than the man who 
tills the soil, and by his industry raises and harvests the crops, 
if we so recognize in some idle outsider whose only right to the 
land is a parchment granted to some of his ancestors b}^ Crom- 
well or William the Fraud, then we participate in a crime which 
every honest man must condemn. 

Any law that recognizes the existence of landlords, will pro- 
vide, you may be sure, that the lord shall do what he likes with 
his own. Hence it follows that those speeches and resolutions 
of the Irish people respecting the rights of tenants are so much 
waste paper, and the sooner they recognize this truth, the sooner 
will relief come in a general law for disestablishing the landlords, 
as they did the church, in Ireland, and compensating them by the 
state, as they compromised with the Protestant preachers for the 
tithes. Though, in strict justice, neither preachers nor land- 
lords had or have any right to compensation, for it is a notorious 
fact [hat had the commandments "Thou shalt not kill, thou 
shalt not steal, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods," been 
obeyed by the English, Ireland would to-day have neither Prot- 
estant landlords nor a Protestant church. This disestablishing 
of the landlords is the only remedy for the evil of land-letting, 
and the cruelties inflicted on the people of Ireland by these de- 
scendants of the savage soldiers of the tyrant Cromwell. The 
printing press and the telegraph are working in vain, if the Irish 
will not very soon demand their rights in the soil for the living 



302 llistory of Ireland. 



and coming generations. Mr. Butts' Home-rule movement may 
be called the blarney movement. 

There is scarcely a family in Ireland who has not some rela- 
tives in the United States, and it is as well known in Ireland as 
in America that the farmers here own the land, and their labor 
and improvements are not for the support of a brood of idlers 
who live, as the Irish landlords do, on the starving poor. The 
Irish in America have wealth enough, and let us hope pluck 
enough, to purchase, man, arm and equip a fleet of ocean steam- 
ers, with two hundred thousand well drilled soldiers, and should 
England get into difficulty with any European country, these 
Irish Yankees, with their knowledge of military tactics, acquired 
during the war, would make short work with the landlords and 
the English garrison in Ireland. Let us hope that England-will 
at last be just, and drive out forever these landlords, who have 
no rights in Ireland except the right of the robber, and peaceably 
restore the soil to the owners. 

The government took alarm at finding that the Presbyterians 
of Ulster, both clergy and laity, had united with their Catho- 
lic neighbors in 1798. Offers were now made to them, through 
Rev. Dr. Black, of Derry, of a large advance in their grant if 
they would not oppose the Union. These offers were readily 
accepted, and in 1803 their pay from the government was in- 
creased four-fold. Doctor Black had a large share; he was agent 
of the government for the distribution of this disgraceful bribe, 
and a few years after he committed suicide by jumping off the 
bridge of Derry into the river Foyle. An Irish writer said : 
"This is a proof positive that even Presbyterians, when they 
fall, have afterwards remorse of conscience." 

In 1804, the First Napoleon was crowned Emperor of France 
by the Pope. This circumstance Pitt, with his usual craft, used 
as a means of refusing emancipation to the Catholics. This was 
a reconciliation of the Emperor with the church ; and editors, 
preachers, and all the readers of Scotch Jammie'.s Bible shrieked 
out in tones of alarm and horror that this meant burning her- 
etics. These scribes did not mention the fact that along with 



1 



History of Jreland. 303 

the Catholic church the Emperor had also established the Prot- 
estant church in France. They were too fanatical to state that 
in France the Protestants had long been emancipated, and stood 
on a footing of perfect equality with their Catholic neighbors. 

The Catholics saw with alarm this new outbreak of foaming 
rage against them and their religion, and thought, at any rate, 
Mr. Pitt would be above taking part in this stupid malice, as in 
fact he was ; but he was not above exciting it, and directing it 
to his advantage. 

Parliament met again January 15th, 1805, and again the 
King's speech contained not one word in reference to Ireland. 
One of the first acts of this Parliament was to suspend the Ha- 
beas Corpus in Ireland, and out of two hundred and fourteen 
members, only fourteen voted against it. Plowden, a respecta- 
ble Irish writer, says: "Ireland at this time was tranquil, in 
spite of calumnies of bigots and hired writers, and the unsup- 
ported charges of some of the members in Parliament." But 
the English government knew then, as they know now, that 
tranquility is not loyalty, and that the Irish people are never so 
eager to shake off the British yoke as when the sheriffs present 
judges with white gloves. The Catholic deputies proceeded to 
London, and had their conference with Pitt on the 12th of March. 
Eight deputies attended the conference, viz. : The Earl of 
Shrewsbury, Earl of Fingal, Viscount Gormanstown, Lord 
Southwell, Lord Trimblestown, Sir Edward Bellew and Coun- 
cillors Denny and Ryan. They told Mr. Pitt they regarded 
. him as their friend, and urged him to present their petition to 
the English Parliament. Pitt told them their confidence was 
gratifying to him, but finally told them he would not present 
their petition. 

These Catholic gentry were duped by Pitt, but they richly 
deserved it for relying on the word or even the oath of an Eng- 
lish minister. But a more vigorous race of Catholics was grow- 
ing up, and one bold, blue-eyed young man, who w-as then 
poring over his briefs in the Four Courts, was destined to hold 
the great leading brief in the mighty case of six millions of his 
countrymen. O'Connell was fast becoming well known as a 



304 



History of Ireland. 



lawyer, and an Orange judge, in a party case, preferred to see 
any other advocate pleading before him. 

The Catholic delegates next applied to Fox and Greenville, 
who agreed to present their petitions. This they did the 25th 
of March. The Lords laid the bill on the table. Lord Auk- 
land said, with some warmth, "That the bill would overthrow 
the whole system of Church and State, and if it was passed he 
would soon see a Protestant church without a congregation, and 
England with a popish Parliament." He called on the bishops 
to arm themselves for the conflict. The Lords objected even to 
the bill being printed. After Fox presented it in the House of 
Commons, petitions against it were presented from the univer- 
sities of Oxford and Cambridge, from the cities of London and 
Dublin, and from all the fanatics and bigots in almost all the 
towns and cities in Ireland, England and Scotland. The Bishop 
of Durham, the wealthiest prelate in Europe, who valued 
highly the constitution of Church and State, that pampered 
him in indolence, said it would be a "surrender of the best con- 
stitution in the world." Lord Redesdale made a violent speech 
against the bill. He said: "The bill would take the tithes and 
lands from the Protestants and give them to the Catholic bish- 
ops. " He said further, "If the Catholic bishops could be 
abolished, hanged or shot, then something might be done for 
the body of the people, and for this those people should be 
grateful." 

IvOrd Carleton raked up all the Protestant phrases, from such 
writers as 

FOX, THE "lying MARTYR MAN," 



about the cruelty of Catholics. After the bigots had vented 
their spite all night, at six in the morning a division was had, 
and the bill was rejected by a majority of one hundred and 
twenty-nine. This ended the hope of relief from the Lords. 

In the Commons Mr. Fox introduced the bill in an able 
speech. He proved that Catholics had been promised emanci- 
pation by Pitt at the time of the Union, and now those pledges 



History of Ireland , 305 

ought to be redeemed. He said he relied upon the loyalty of 
the Catholics of Ireland, but he would not press them too far, 
nor draw the cord too tight. 

Dr. Deiganan replied to fox, and opposed the bill in a long 
speech. He maintained no Catholic could take an oath that 
the priest could not release him from ; that Catholics held no 
faith was to be kept with heretics ; that is, all Christians but 
themselves ; and that it was impossible for a Catholic to be 
loyal to a Protestant King. He contended that to swear the 
King was head of the church was only objected to by traitors, 
and was fierce and furious against the Catholic bishops for for- 
bidding their people to send their children to Protestant schools. 
It would violate both the Unions with Scotland and with Ire- 
land, and to ask his Majesty to sign the bill would be supposing 
him capable of violating his coronation oath. 

Mr. Grattan said he rose to defend the Catholics from Doctor 
Deiganan's attack, and the Protestants from his defence. The 
learned member had said that the people of Ireland to be good 
CathoHcs must be bad subjects ; that the Irish Catholic is not, 
never was, and never can be a good subject to a Protestant 
King. The bill was supported by some liberal Enghshmen (for 
there is always a few of this class), when Pitt, the apostate, 
arose and said he was favorably disposed to the bill, but differed 
in many points from those who had introduced or supported it ; 
he said there were irresistible obstacles, (which obstacles he 
himself had taken care to raise up) and should the bill not pass, 
and he saw no probability that it would, the agitation of the 
question would raise hopes that could never be gratified. He 
next took another line of argument. He should disguise the 
truth if he did not say the opposition to the bill was strong and 
rooted, and therefore he would vote " No! " A lame excuse, 
but where there is a will there is always a way. 

Hon. H. A. Dillon said, "The hearts of the Irish people had 
been alienated by martial law and by other severities and op- 
pressions. Were this bill allowed to pass, such severities would 
cease to be necessary, and that brave and grateful people would 
present a firm front against the enemies of their country." 



308 History of Ireland. 

It was evident from this debate that all the honesty and in- 
telligence in the British Parliament were m favor of emancipa- 
tion, and that all the bigots and blockheads were opposed to it. 
The division showed, for the bill 124; against it, 336; majority 
against it, 212. 

So Catholic emancipation was set at rest in both Houses of 
the British Parliament, and the "Protestant interest," and the 
constitution in Church and State were saved — it was hoped for- 
ever. The Irish farmers were also oppressed by rack-rents, 
tithes and middlemen, church rates, and the monstrous grand 
jury jobs, by which gentlemen accommodated one another, at the" 
expense of the county, with roads and bridges which were not 
useiui to the people, but for the benefit of these gentlemen 
themselves. Those who knew Ireland in the first twenty years 
of this century need not be told that in consequence of the ex- 
actions of the tithe proctors, a bod}^ of men calling them- 
selves " Threshers" made depredations only upon, the collectors 
of tithes and their underhngs, giving as a reason for their con- 
duct that the profits of their crops were eaten up by the tithe proc- 
tors. They sent letters to the growers of flax or oats, warning 
them to leave the tithes of kind in the field, but on no account 
to pay any money to the preachers or their proctors. 

England had no motive now for provoking an insurrection in 
Ireland, because the Union had been carried, and all was safe. 
Still, the government resolved to meet the case of the poor 

" threshers" 

by what they called constitutional means, viz. : Special commis- 
sions, packed juries, and the gallows. The people were left at 
the mercy of the Protestant preachers, and if they came before 
a packed Orange jury they were hung, often without the least 
evidence of guilt. These preachers swindled the farmers in the 
following manner : They gave leases to the farmers in their par- 
ishes at a fixed sum yearly as long as they occupied the church. 
The lessee, supposing his lease held during the life of the 
preacher improved the lands, and when they began to yield in- 



History of Ireland. 307 

creased crops these scoundrels would exchange livings with some 
other lessor of his tithes during his incumbency. This pre- 
concerted plan of letting each other into the full value of the 
tenant's labor and expenditure, has been known in two or three 
years to double the value of the income of these robbers who 
preached in these law churches in Ireland, and if the people re- 
sisted. Orange juries and hireling judges made short work with 
them. 

The English government, after having long prohibited by 
cruel laws the education of Catholic youths at home, after hav- 
ing driven them abroad for education, were now almost willing 
to bribe them to stay at home and receive that education which, 
within the memory of men then living, would have merited 
transportation or death. Yet these two modes of treatment 
were perfectly right in the eyes of John Bull. A century be- 
fore, John's great object had been to get and keep possession of 
Catholics' lands and goods, and for that purpose to debase the 
Catholics to the condition of brutes for want of education. But 
now, in 1807, England was at war with France, and it was de- 
sirable to keep Irish students away from there, where they 
might learn matters not expedient to be known in Ireland; might 
learn that in France every man is his own landlord and the' peo- 
ple pay no tithes, and that people of all creeds are equal before 
the laAV ; also, that the people of France suffer no inconvenience 
from the want of noble landlords, and many other things of this 
nature. Therefore, when the English at one time drove young 
Irishmen abroad for education, and at another time induced 
them to stay at home for education, they knew very well each 
time what they were doing, and acted each l me on the princi- 
ple that all Irish life and industry, physical and intellectual, be- 
long to England, and are to be regulated and disposed of as 
British policy and interest shall from time to time require. 

Upon the same principle the government in this session intro- 
duced what was called the "Catholic officers' bill," to enable 
Catholics. to hold commissions in the army and navy. This 
measure was intended for two purposes, first, to stop the demands 
of the Catholics for their emancipation; and, secondly, by com- 



308 History of Ireland. 

missioning a few Catholic officers to make the Briti3h army more 
popular in Ireland and promote enlistments. The words of Lord 
Howick, who introduced the bill, are worth preserving. He 
said, ' ' On the peasantry of Ireland the measure must have a 
powerful effect, by affording a check to the increasing popula- 
tion of the country, as it would induce numbers to enter the 
army who, by their own discontents, had been lately in rebel- 
lion." It is needless to say that the measure was opposed by 
Percival, the mouthpiece of the Protestant bigots. He feared, 
he said, that this was the beginning of a system which would be 
highly dangerous to the Protestant establishment. Mr. Percival 
was himself, he said, ' ' as great a friend to toleration as any man, " 
but he did not see how the Protestant church could stand if per- 
sons were allowed to command the King's troops who believed 
in seven sacraments. The bill was read the first time, and it 
raised a violent ferment, both in England and among the bigoted 
Protestants in Ireland, George the Third was at this time an 
idiot, sometimes a moping idiot, and sometimes a talking and 
busy idiot. Percival said through the press that the church was 
in danger, and a great cry of " No Popery ! " arose over all Eng- 
land. Ministers then offered to drop the bill altogether, but this 
was not enough. The King required of them a pledge that they 
would never more bring forward any bill giving any privilege to 
Papists — in other words, would never advise his Majesty to do 
justice to over one-fourth of his subjects. This was too much. 
The Ministers had no idea of emancipating the Catholics. It 
' was to stave off that question that they proposed the trifling 
concession, but Ihey resolved to resign rather than make that 
promise, thougli Pitt had already made the King such a promise. 
The matter ended with the installation of the famous ' ' No 
Popery" Cabinet, with the pious Percival to run the machine. 
The pretext for this change in the ministry was so absurd that 
many members of both Houses were unwilling to let the coun- 
try be longer governed by the fitful caprices of an idiot, and 
several resolutions were offered against requiring a pledge to 
keep Ministers in their places. Mr. Tighe, an Irish member, 
said the tranquihty of Ireland would, he feared, be affected by 



History of Ireland. 309 

the removal of the Duke of Bedford. He did not see, however, 
any serious grounds for alarm, because the people of Ireland 
viewed all changes with apathy, as none of these changes were 
of any benefit to them. Few recruits were to be had in Ireland, 
because there was no security for the free exercise of religion. 
Some years ago some men enlisted upon the promise of a mag- 
istrate that they should always be allowed the free exercise of 
their religion, but when they arrived at the Isle of Wight they 
were compelled to attend the Protestant church, and forbidden 
to attend the Catholic church under pain of military punish- 
ment. Consequently, recruiting was slow in Ireland, though 
the people were poor, and the bounties offered extravagantly 
high. ' ' Since the Union Ireland had no rights England respected, 
her only right was that of sending one hundred men to the Brit- 
ish Parliament to be out-voted by four or five hundred English 
and Scotchmen, as he would be that night." 

Mr, Tighe's estimate of the value of Irish representation in 
the British Parliament is true to this day. The Catholic com- 
mittee had drawn up their petition for complete emancipation, 
and had sent it to Grattan for presentation. He had consulted 
with Sheridan, and wrote to the committee they had better with- 
hold it. Another meeting was held, at which the venerable 
John Keogh moved the postponement, not the abandonment, 
of their petition. As to the paltry measure of conciliation pro- 
posed by the government, which they (the Catholics) had not 
petitioned for at all, Mr. Keogh truly thus' described it : " The 
English ministers resolved to encourage Catholic gentlemen to 
enter the army, and through their influence to induce the peas- 
antry to enter the service in great numbers. One of their ob- 
jects they admit to be to lessen our population. Candor com- 
pels us to say this bill, had it became a law, would not have 
given them any claim for gratitude from the Catholics. To 
benefit them was not the object of the bill. It did not pretend 
to admit them to their rights like other citizens. It had been 
called a boon to the Catholics, but in truth had it been carried 
into effect it would have been a boon given by them, the boon 



310 History of Ireland. 

of their blood, to defend a constitution from which they, and 
they only, are cautiously excluded." 

The King having required a pledge from the ministers that no 
Catholic claims, or rights, or wrongs, should ever be mentioned 
to him by his advisers, and certainly as far as they could they 
redeemed the pledge. They were professedly a " No Popery 
Cabinet," who resisted all reform, and especially concessions to 
■ Catholics. 

This event increased the insolence of the Orange Squires all 
over Ireland, and made the lot of the Catholic people still more 
bitter than before. It would be difficult to conceive any pros- 
pect more gloomy than that of the Catholic body at that time 
— dreading the rigor of the new administration, with its ferocious 
Orange supporters, and yet thankful to the out-going ministry 
for attempting a paltry reform, avowedly intended to diminish 
their numbers. This is the first time that we hear the English 
urging the depopulation of Ireland, a policy which has been suc- 
cessfully prosecuted ever since. Two of the first things recom- 
mended for Ireland by Percival, was the curtailment of the 
Maynooth grant, and the appointment of Dr. Duigenan to the 
Privy Council. This renegade Duigenan had devoted his life to 
raking up all the slanders that had ever been heaped on Catho- 
lics since the days of Calvin and Knox. And John Mitchell 
says the fellow ' ' was never so much in his element as when 
pouring forth his foul collections by the hour in a strain of ribald 
abuse." The other pitiful no popery spite was cutting down 
the grant to Maynooth College. Mr. Percival opposed the 
grant on strictly evangelical principles. So did Wilberforce (a 
gentleman whose sympathies were with the oppressed and de- 
graded people, provided they had a black skin.) 

Among the bitter opponents of the Maynooth grant was Dr. 
Duigenan, the new privy councillor. He vented some of his 
venom, of which he had plenty, upon his Catholic countrymen ; 
said they were always traitors in theory, and wanted but the 
opportunity to be traitors in action. 

Sir Arthur Wellesley, who was afterwards Duke of Welling- 
ton, in defending Duigenan's appointment .to the Privy Council, 



History of Ireland. 311 

said he did not care what religion a man was. If he could be 
useful in any line, he thought in that line he should be employed. 
And the business of the government at that time was to tram- 
ple down and humiliate the Catholics, and to promote their bit- 
terest enemies. 

Froude has shown that to poison Irish patriots who opposed 
British rule in Ireland, has been a time-honored principle of the 
EngHsh government. Those who are curious on this point should 
read Froude's History of England, reign of Elizabeth, where he 
says, "A troublesome traitor is not likely to find much security 
for his life under a government that openly professes that it does 
not deal with justice, but with expediency." The object of the 
English government, we are told by Wellington, is to use the 
best machinery for the purposes to which it is applied ; they sim- 
ply deny that justice has anything to do with the matter. A 
government that publicly avows this to be its policy, would 
scarcely hesitate at any means to gain its end. Poor John 
Mitchell fell into their hands, A. D. 1875, and soon found a 
grave. But then this was purely a matter of state policy. Let 
us not forget this, kind reader, it may yet be worth remember- 
ing. 

The veto by which the English government sought to appoint 
the bishops of the Catholic Church in Ireland now agitated the 
public mind, England said, let us appoint your bishops and we 
will emancipate you. When the real nature of the proposal 
was known, the Catholics resolved rather to remain unemanci- 
pated than to suffer their church to be controlled by the Protest- 
ants. The project was for the time defeated, but it was brought 
forward again and again during the struggle for emancipation. 
In the course of the session Lord Greenville made a motion to 
make Catholic merchants admissible as governors and directors 
of the Bank of Ireland. Lord Westmoreland opposed the mo- 
tion on general no-popery principles. 

But with this bigoted opposition, his lordship made a sensible 
observation. He said he was surprised to' see such motions 
brought forth by those who, when they were in power, employed 
every m.eans to prevent it. This was true. Ireland and her griev- 



312 History of Ireland. 

ances, the Catholics and their wrongs, have been in Parlia- 
ment a stock in trade for Whigs out of office, and have so 
remained until 

GLADSTONE, 

in 1874, adopted other tactics. How he will succeed in his no- 
pOpery rule time will tell. Lord Redesdale was alarmed at the 
danger to the Protestant interests by allowing Catholics to be 
bank directors. He said the more you grant them, the more 
power and pretentions you give them to come forward with fresh 
claims. He then launched out into a general invective against 
Catholics, and particularly against priests. This debate about 
the Bank of Ireland is not worth recording (the motion was re- 
jected, as its mover knew it would be,) save to show the tactics 
of the Whigs. 

The administration of the Duke of Richmond gave a foster- 
ing countenance to the Orangemen, which tended more to en- 
courage than to put down and punish their atrocities. It is 
certainly not pleasant to narrate these Orange outrages ; it serves 
to keep alive the animosity between neighbors in Ireland, which 
was and is the object of the English in encouraging them. 
Much more pleasant it would be to forget and think no more of 
them. But for two reasons this cannot be : first, the history of 
Ireland would be almost a blank page without narrating the 
Orange persecutions, and the complicity of the government 
therein, and their consequences upon the general well-being of 
the island; next, however well inclined to forget these horrors, 
Irishmen have never been permitted to do so, even to the pres- 
ent day. In 1848 the government supplied the Orangemen with 
arms, and the next year a magistrate of County Down led a 
band of Orangemen and police to wreck and slaughter the Cath- 
olics of a whole township. 

The records of the assizes in the northern counties show the 
frequent picture of an Orange murderer shielded from justice by 
twelve brethren, who have been carefully packed into a jury box 
by a sheriff, who is also an Orangemen, though an officer of the 
crown. This condition of society being a direct product of 



History of B' eland. 313 

British policy, a writer of Irish history is bound to notice the 
wretched details. 

The "Convention Act," passed especially to prevent Catho- 
lics from meeting to discuss their grievances, was still unre- 
pealed, for which reason we find Mr. O'Connell, who knew that 
the government was watching their proceedings with a jealous 
eye, from the first of his long series of agitations always steer- 
ing clear of the rocks and shoals of the law, and find also that 
the nlost dangerous of these rocks and shoals was this same 
" Convention Act. " It embarrassed the Catholic Committee in 
1809, and stopped the proceedings of the "Council of Three 
Hundred" in 1845 — in fact, it was passed for the purpose of 
preventing all organized deliberation by the Catholics for the 
attainment of their rights. There is no doubt but the govern- 
ment could have prosecuted the Committee (notwithstanding 
O'Connell's vigilance) at any time, by means of a well-packed 
jury. But now the affairs of the Catholics seemed to acquire 
strength from the permanent organization of the Committee and 
the respectability of its members. 

Of course this circumstance alarmed and infuriated the Orange- 
men. It is not easy to arrive at the exact truth regarding all 
the tests and oaths and degrees of this mischievous body — the 
forms have from time to time been altered, and the "Grand 
Masters" and their organs have boldly denied what has been 
alleged against the society, although such allegations have been 
true very shortly before, and were substantially true when 
denied, even if some trifling form had been altered to justify the 
denial. Plowden says that in 18 10 a change in the system of 
Orangeism was made and new oaths introduced. The following 
oath is that taken by the brethren at the present day, and yet 
Hoffman protected them with a guard of United States troops 
in the city of New York on the 12th of July, 1873 : 

"I, A. B., do solemnly and voluntarily swear that I will be 
faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty Queen Victoria, 
and to her heirs and successors in the sovereignty of Great 
Britain and Ireland, and of the provinces belonging to said king- 
dom, so long as they shall maintain the Protestant religion and 



314 History of Ireland. 

the laws of this country ; that I will to the utmost of my power 
defend them against all conspiracies which I shall know to be 
against them or any of them ; that I will maintain the connec- 
tion between the colonies of America and the Mother country, 
and be ever ready to resist all attempts to weaken British influ- 
ence or dismember the British empire ; that I will be true and 
faithful to all brother Orangemen, neither wronging him, nor 
knowing him to be wronged or injured without giving him due 
notice thereof, and preventing it if in my power. I swear that 
I will ever hold sacred the name of the glorious deliverer. King 
William, Prince of Orange, in grateful remembrance of whom 
I solemnly swear, if in my power, to celebrate his victory over 
James at the Boyne, in Ireland, by assembling with my brethren 
in their lodge-room on the I2th of July every year. I swear 
that I am not, nor never will be a Catholic or Papist, nor marry 
a Papist, nor educate my children nor suffer them to be educa- 
ted in the Catholic faith, nor will I ever become a member of a 
society who are enemies to her Majesty," etc. 

The remainder of the oath refers to his duty in observing the 
rules of the order, and is of little importance to outsiders. Sec- 
tion 3 of the By-Laws says : " No man but a sound Protestant 
and a good subject of the British empire, can be admitted as a 
member." And again, " A member may be expelled for edu- 
cating his child in a Cathohc school, nunnery or monastery." 

The Catholics of Ireland have long held out the olive branch 
to the Orangemen, but as yet have not made many conversions; 
the colors green and orange may be blended, but the principles 
that now underline both -are too much at variance to ever har- 
monize. In 1848 the eloquent Thomas Francis Maher made the 
attempt in Belfast to induce the Orangemen to assist in freeing 
the country, but failed. The following verses were popular in 
Ireland at that time : 

Oh ! what a sight it would be to see the Green and Orange blended 
In one proud flag of liberty, with millions to defend it, 
Made up of Erin's stalwart sons, resolved to strike for freedom, 
Ready to grasp their trusty guns when Erin's cause shall need 'em! 



History of Ireland. 315 

Let creed no longer disunite the ties that ought to bind us, 
Let us hear no more of party fights, 'tis England's mill to grind us, 
The dew that wets the Shamrock green falls also on the Lily, 
Neither bows down to king or queen, nor cares a fig for " Billy." 

Nature intended both should live in harmony together, 
'Tis wicked men that makes them seem to envy one another. 
No harmless plant can be to blame, yet men have made the lily 
The emblem of our country's shame, a plant produced by " Billy." 

It would be easy to give examples of Orange outrages in the 
north of Ireland, but these incidents have a wearisome same- 
ness. Shooting down Catholics and wrecking their houses was 
the common amusement of these Orange yeomen. 

The writer, who is a ' native of County Down, Ireland, can 
well remember that in 1830, in the little town of Crossgar, a fair 
was held for the sale of stock. In the evening a fight occurred 
between the Catholics and the Orangemen, in which fight the 
Orangemen came out second best. But the Orangemen waylaid 
their opponents going home, and shot down a young man named 
Simon Lundy, who, it was said, was a match for two or three of 
the Orangemen in a fair fight. For this none of these cowardly 
wretches were ever brought to justice; and in the fairs the street 
ballad singers sang the following — this is the last verse of the 
song, and by its spirit the reader can judge of the rest : 

And now to conclude, here's to hell with the Pope, 
And I hope Dan O'Connell may die by a rope. 
I hope also in future at each monthly fair. 
To hear of a Papist been shot in Crossgar. 

As like begets like, the opposition also did a little at rhyming, 
of which the following verse is a sample, and it may puzzle you, 
kind reader, to tell in which is the most or the least Christian 
charity : 

A story, a story, a story I will tell. 

Of four-and-twenty Orangemen, last batch that went to hell. 
When the Devil saw them coming, he called on his imps to rise, 
Sayiug, rake up the hottest corner, here comes more Orange boys. 



316 History of Ireland 

The Duke of Richmond, now Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 
endeavored to soothe the Catholics by words of hollow and 
hypocritical kindness, at a moment when he was acting as the 
agent of a no-popery administration, and was excluding Catho- 
lic gentlemen from the grand juries. Catholic merchants from 
the banks, and regularly punishing Catholic soldiers for going 
to Mass, and he knew at the same time that the Orange ban- 
ditti were killing and maiming their Catholic neighbors without 
the least fear of being brought to justice. 

The treatment of Catholic soldiers in the army, of which 
they numbered one-half, was cruel in the extreme. At Enniskil- 
len a lieutenant turned a soldier's coat to disgrace him for ob- 
jecting to attend Protestant worship ; others were prevented 
from attending Mass by an order not to leave the barracks be- 
fore twelve o'clock on Sunday, when the Catholic service was 
over. Patrick Spence, a private who, like all others, was forced 
to attend the Protestant church, though known to be a Catholic, 
refused and was sent to the guard-house prison. He wrote to 
the commanding officer, saying, " in obeying the dictates of 
conscience he had not broken military discipline." Upon a 
charge that this letter was disrespectful, he was tried by court- 
martial, convicted and sentenced to receive nine hundred and 
ninety-nine lashes. 

In October, 1880, King George the Third fell into incurable 
insanity, and the 

PRINCE OF WALES 

became regent. It was a matter of no concern to Ireland, ex- 
cept that the stupid scruples of the idiot old King about his 
coronation oath were no longer in the way of justice. The 
Prince had made many promises that if in power he would do 
all that in him lay to bring about emancipation. He had now 
uncontrolled power, and, as usual, the Catholics found them- 
selves cheated. He retained as his Prime Minister the no- 
popery Percival, and all his advisers were hostile to the Catho- 
lics. His mistress at that time was the wife of the Marquis of 



History of Ireland. 317 

Hertford, and the conscience of that lady could not bear the 
thought of conceding" any rights to persons who believed in 
seven sacraments. Even the two Protestant ones were one too 
many for her. 

This lady was over fifty years of age, and her husband and 
son were the boon companions of the seducer of the father's 
wife and the son's mother. This scandal was well known to 
every person in the country, and yet the preachers and editors 
in the interest of the Established Church uttered not a word of 
censure on the guilty parties, nor dare they if so disposed, for 
the Prince was now head of the church, and the preachers were 
all dependent on him for their living. The Catholics, by re- 
ferring to this notorious scandal, aroused the malice of this 
shameless woman, and as long as she held sway over the Prince 
their claims were unheeded. She was soon replaced in the 
Prince's affections by the notorious 

MRS. CLARKE, 

who was said to run the machine in the government of England 
for a number of years. Finally, when the Prince wished to 
cast her off, he found a young man who had lately been or- 
dained a clergyman in the Church of England. This person 
was poor and proud. The Prince, being head of the church, 
made him Bishop of Sodor and Man, with the condition that 
he should marry Mrs. Clarke. This now bishop, whose name 
was Ward, was a native of County Down, Ireland; was raised 
near the little town of Saintfield ; the family were Catholics, but . 
this now bishop, having first sold his conscience when ordained 
a Protestant minister, finally sold his honor to the Prince of 
Wales by marrying this harlot. The writer was well acquainted 
with the Ward family ; a nephew of the bishop's is at present a 
magistrate in Saintfield, A. D. 1875. 

The first act under the Prince Regent was a state prosecution 
against the Catholic Committee in the person of Mr. Kirwin and 
Doctor Sheridan. The government had been long watching for 
this chance, and now made sure work, by a well packed jury, to 



318 History of Ireland. 

obtain a conviction. The attorney-general in his speech, said : 
" My Lords and gentlemen of the jury, I congratulate you 
■that the day of justice has at last arrived," And yet these 
Catholics were only claiming their rights, and the crime of which 
they were accused was unknown to the laws of England. After 
this conviction, the Catholic Committee ceased to exist. Mr. 
Shell says : "A great blow had been struck at the cause, and a 
considerable time elapsed before Ireland recovered from it. 
But, although that organization was at an end, many angry 
meetings were held, and the Catholic press assumed a more de- 
fiant tone. 
In 1812, 

SIR ROBERT PEEL, 

at the age of twenty-four, became Chief Secretary, and of all 
English statesmen, he may be said to have understood Ireland 
best, to Ireland's bitter cost. Mr. Percival, the^ Prime Minis- 
ter, was assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons, 
and a change of administration became necessary. But the 
new arrangement had little interest for Irishmen, as from Lord 
Liverpool and Castlereagh there was no hope of justice. 

A dissolution of Parliament and general election followed, 
and several Liberal members were returned from Ireland. Mr. 
Curran was the candidate of the Liberal electors of the town of 
Newry, County Down. He was defeated by General Needham, 
one of the military tyrants of 1798. Curran's speech on this 
occasion, though imperfectly reported, shows vividly the con- 
dition of Ireland twelve years after the Union. He said : "By 
the Union we put ourselves in a condition of the most unquali- 
fied servitude; sold our country, and we levied upon ourselves 
the purchase money. We gave up the right of disposing of our 
own property; we yielded to a foreign legislature to decide 
whether the funds necessary to their projects or their profligacy 
should be exacted from us or furnished by themselves. Our 
debts have accordingly been increased more than ten-fold ; our 
people have been worried by cruel persecution, and our govern- 



History of Ireland. 319 

ment under the English has been simpHfied into the tax gatherer 
and the hangman." This dismal picture of the condition of the 
country could not have been made by a man of Curran's stand- 
ing unless every word were true. 

All this time Ireland was tranquil, except the killing of some 
bailiff who had turned out some poor families and pulled down 
their houses, or some tithe proctor who had seized on a wid- 
ow's stock-yard to pay the tithes claimed by some robber 
with Rev. affixed to his name, and who, perhaps, was never in 
the parish from which he collected his unjust tribute. These 
acts of despair, committed under cruel oppression, were treated 
as sedition and insurrection, and the habeas corpus was sus- 
pended and martial law proclaimed. And it will be seen here- 
after how steadily these same coercion laws, with ingenious 
variations of name, have been continued in Ireland down to this 
day. 

So uniform have been the oppressions of Ireland generation 
after generation, that were it not for their steadfast attachment 
to their religion, they might be tempted to doubt whether or 
not a just God reigns over the earth. 

Mr. Grattan made his final effort to effect the emancipation of 
the Catholics in the first session of Parliament in 1813. The 
bill he proposed was a very imperfect and restricted one, but it 
provided that Catholics should sit in Parliament and hold some 
offices. 

The wars of the first Napoleon had direct effect upon Ireland. 
The demand for agricultural products for victualing the armies 
had kept prices high, and as numbers of small farmers then 
held leases, in order to manufacture votes, the people lived 
with some approach to comfort. It is true that landlords, 
wherever they had tenants from year to year, raised the rent as 
prices advanced, but still there was not much of either extermi- 
nation or emigration. In 1818, however, and the following 
years, the prices of grain, pork and cattle fell very low, and 
rents were not reduced in proportion. The increase in popula- 
tion — for there were now six millions of people in Ireland — 
produced that competition for small farms which has enabled 



320 History of Ireland. 

the landlords to wring the last penny out of the helpless peas- 
antry, who had no other employment but labor on the land. 
Extermination began in good earnest after the French were de- 
feated at Waterloo. A law was passed in 1815, providing that 
all holdings in Ireland where the rent was under twenty pounds — 
which included the whole class of small farms — the court could 
make a decree, at the cost of about fifty cents, to eject a man 
from his house and farm. Two years after, the ejectments were 
further simplified by an act making the oath of the landlord or 
his agent sufficient proof of the amount of rent due by the 
tenant. By these two acts it was made easy and cheap for the 
landlord to turn out on the highways a whole village or town- 
ship, and this was often done towards tenants at will, a class of 
beings found in no country but Ireland. The effects of the 
peace upon the claims of the Catholics were quite discouraging. 
England felt not only secure, but triumphant, and as a matter of 
course it fared ill with Ireland. Concessions to Catholics were 
no longer to be thought of, and if any one even hinted there 
was such a thing as human rights, he was set down as a friend 
of Papists. A Catholic board had maintained its struggling ex- 
istence till the summer of 18 14, but when the news of the im- 
prisonment of Napoleon arrived in England, a proclamation 
was issued to disperse the board. England had now one of her 
periodical spells of bigotry and tyranny. 

RICHARD LALOR SHEIL, 

speaking of this gloomy period, says : ' ' The hopes of the Catho- 
lics fell with the peace. And never before for half a century 
had the Protestant interest shown itself so spiteful toward the 
Catholic people. This Protestant wrath was all heaped upon 
O'Connell, for he denounced, with a rasping tongue, all kinds 
of bigotry, injustice, packed juries and church rates — in short, 
the whole system used in supporting the Protestant church in 
Ireland. In his celebrated speech for John Magee, editor of the 
Evening Post, who was prosecuted for libel upon the govern- 
ment, O'Connell not only repeated the libel, but aggravated it a 



History of Ireland. 321 

thousand fold. With a fierce and vindictive energy he laid bare 
the whole system which in Ireland is called a government. He 
thundered into the ears of the judge that he had first advised 
this prosecution, which he was now pretending to try, and as 
for the twelve pious Protestants in the jury box, all members of 
the society, he told them, with cruel taunts, that ' they knew 
they were fraudulently packed to find his client guilty (so help 
them God ! ) for stating what they every one knew in their hearts 
to be true.' " 

Mr. ''Shell, in his speech on O'Connell, says : "The admirers 
of King William have no mercy for a man who is so provoking 
as to tell the world that their idol was a Dutch adventurer. 
Then his success in his practice, where so many staunch Prot- 
estants were almost starving, and his fashionable house in Merion 
Square, and a greater eye-sore still, his dashing green carriage 
and prancing horses, driven over a Protestant pavement, to the 
terror of Protestant pedestrians — these and other provocations 
have exposed O'Connell to the detestation of all his Majesty's 
popish-hating subjects in Ireland." The provocation of popish 
horses prancing over a Protestant pavement may, to the Amer- 
ican reader, seem unintelligible ; but the pavements of Dublin 
at that time were strictly Protestant, and so were the street 
lamps. No Catholic could then be admitted to any paving or 
lighting board in that then stronghold of Protestantism. O'Con- 
nell was in the habit of speaking with contempt of this bigoted 
and beggarly corporation of Dublin. One of the most needy 
of these members, DeEastere, thinking the word beggarly ap- 
plied to him, sent O'Connell a challenge. The parties met, 
fought with pistols, and DeEastere was killed, to the lasting 
sorrow of O'Connell. It was said that DeEastere was induced 
to attempt O'Connell's life by the expectation that if he should 
rid the government of so formidable an agitator he would be 
well rewarded. And surely the Enghsh, who paid the Indians 
for the scalps of the Americans in the days of the Revolution, 
would not have overlooked the claims of DeEastere. 

To show the spirit of the City Council of Dublin, (who were 
of course all Protestants,) one of them, who was a tailor, said 



322 History of Ireland. 

at a corporation dinner: "Mr. President, these Papists may get 
their emancipation ; they may sit in Parliament ; they may even 
preside on the King's Bench ; but never, never shall one of 
them set his foot in the ancient and loyal guild of tailors ! " 

In the year i8i6, Sir John Newport moved in Parliament for 
a committee to inquire into the state of Ireland, which was 
then suffering from scarcity of food. Sir Robert Peel opposed 
the inquiry. That prudent statesman had not been so long 
Chief Secretary of Ireland for nothing. He Avanted no inquiry, 
being well aware of what was passing in that country where 
everything must go as he desired. If there was some extermi- 
nation of starving wretches, it was because his cheap ejectment 
laws were working well. And if there was some disturbance 
caused by those turned out of house and home, he had his new 
police ready to repress it. And, better still, he had procured 
the renewal of the insurrection act in 1814; had caused it to be 
continued in 1815, and it was now (18 16) in full vigor, fillingthe 
jails with persons who could not give a good account of them- 
selves, and transporting them for possessing a gun or pistol. 

The low prices of produce had made thousands of farmers un- 
able to pay the rent, then they were ejected, and having no 
money nor home, there was an occasional murder or an attempt 
at murder of an exterminating landlord. Magistrates would 
meet and write to the Castle for immediate proclamation of the 
county under the insurrection act. This oppression repeats 
itself from year to year, and will never, end until the people of 
Ireland rise in their might and drive out the whole brood of 
landlords. 

But in sad earnest the year 18 17 was a year of famine and 
suffering, and of course the Coercion act was renewed. The 
potato crop had failed, and although Ireland was largely ex- 
porting grain and cattle to England, yet this food was not sup- 
posed to be sent by Providence for the nourishment of those 
who sowed and reaped it on their own soil. It is instructive to 
remark the similarity attending these Irish famines. The crops 
are shipped to England, and the money paid for them all goes 



History of Ireland. 323 

back there to be spent by absentee landlords, or paid to the gov- 
ernment in taxes. 

If in the famine years of 1847-48, there was a greater de- 
struction of the people and a larger export of their food and 
money to England, it is only because the British had their sys- 
tem more fully perfected in all its details than in 18 17. 

The years i8i8-'i9-'2o were years of gloom and sadness in 
Ireland. Bills were passed imposing heavy penalties against those 
who published seditious libels — meaning all truthful comments 
on the proceedings of the government — for, kind reader, if any 
person had written this statement of the facts at anytime in Ire- 
land, a prison, packed jury and hireling judge would have made 
short work with him. 

In August, 1 82 1, 

GEORGE THE FOURTH 

visited Ireland, and was feasted and toasted with loyal servility 
by both Catholic and Protestant, and hailed with hurrahs 
wherever he passed. It was hoped he would introduce a change 
of system in ruling Ireland, but they soon found that his prom- 
ises meant nothing. In short, the Irish were once more cheated, 
and it is not saying much for their perception, for they were 
twice cheated before by the same cheat. Irishmen must ever 
look back with shame on the scenes of loyal servility enacted at 
that time by their countrymen. O'Connell toasting the glorious 
and immortal memory of Dutch Billy, and presenting a bunch 
of shamrocks to that discreditable being who then wore the 
crown of England ! Doubtless these hypocritical demonstrations 
of loyalty were intended to conciliate tyrants in England and 
to disarm animosities at home. In this they utterly failed, and 
have their place in history only as an example of graticious 
crouching and crawling. This senseless gala of 1821 passed 
away, and the famine of 1822 immediately followed. 

Before proceeding to the details of the famine of 1822, we 
must consider the financial relations of the two islands since the 
Union. In 18 16 an act was passed for consolidating the Brit- 



324 History of Ireland. 

ish and Irish exchequers. The meaning of this was charging 
Ireland with the whole debt of England, and also charging Eng- 
land with the whole Irish debt. Now, the enormous debt of 
England was contracted for purposes which Ireland had not only- 
no interest in promoting, but a direct interest in resisting. 
That is, it had been contracted to hire Hessians to crush Amer- 
ica, and also to conquer France. Both of these powers were 
the natural friends and allies of Ireland. It must be borne in 
mind that previous to the Union the national debt of Ireland 
was a mere trifle. It was enormously increased by charging to 
Ireland's account, first, the expenses of getting up the rebellion ; 
next, the expenses of suppressing it, and, lastly, the expenses 
of bribing Irish members to sell their country at the Union. 
Thus the Irish debt, which before the Union had been less than 
three million pounds sterling, was set down after the Union at 
twenty-seven million pounds. 

During the long and costly war against France and the second 
American war, it happened, by some very extraordinary species 
of book-keeping, known only to the English, their own debt 
was not quite doubled, while that of Ireland was increased four- 
fold, as if Ireland had twice the interest which England had in 
forcing the Bourbons back upon France and destroying Ameri- 
can commerce. 

The following facts should become known to every man in and 
out of Ireland : First, the British debt in 1801 was about 
seventeen times as large as the Irish debt ; second, it was prom- 
ised in the seventh article of the Union that as Ireland had no 
part in contracting that debt, she should forever be exempt from 
the payment of either principal or interest ; third, in order to 
effect this promise England was to be separately taxed to pay 
her own part of the debt. This has not been done, and Ireland 
has been forced to pay her part of this debt, from which she 
was promised perpetual exemption. Fourth, Ireland has re- 
ceived no compensation for being subjected to the pre-union 
British debt. The amount annually drained out of Ireland in 
taxes is about five millions of pounds sterling, but even this 
represents a very small part of the plunder of the country. 



History of Ireland. 325 

When to this is added the absentee rental, the interest paid out 
of encumbered estates to Jews in London, and the cost of arti- 
cles imported which Ireland ought to manufacture herself, and 
which English law-makers prevent her doing, we may begin to 
understand why the mass of the Irish people are always on the 
verge of starvation, and why the failure of the potato crop 
brings on a famine. On the 27th of June, 1822, Sir John New- 
port, of Waterford, in his place in the House of Commons, 
said, ' ' In one parish in his county fifteen persons had already 
died of hunger, and twenty-eight more were past recovery." 

In January, 1828, the Duke of Wellington was Prime Minis- 
ter, and Sir Robert Peel Secretary of State, both avowed enemies 
of the Catholics. But both had already determined to be con- 
verted at the right moment, and have the credit of effecting a 
revolution which they saw to be inevitable. Their associate in 
the ministry was Lord Palmerston, who never cared for Whig or 
Tory, Catholic or Protestant, or the rights or wrongs of any 
class, but was always ready to bear a hand in anything that was 
popular. 

On the opening of Parliament in 1828 a petition was pre- 
sented, signed by 800,000 Catholics, and not for their own 
rights, but for the repeal of the Test and Corporation acts, 
which had shut out Presbyterians from office for nearly two cen- 
turies. This idea was O'Connell's, but the petition was drawn 
up by Father L' Estrange. Many petitions were also brought 
in this session from Protestants of all sects in favor of the claims 
of the Catholics, so that there was at least an appearance of 
mutual good-will. The picture was somewhat marred by num- 
bers of petitions from Ireland, England and Scotland, who 
thought the Protestant religion was lost if men believing in 
seven sacraments should sit in Parliament or be town council- 
men. 

There was earnest consultation one night in O'Connell's house 
in Dublin. Next day the city was startled, and soon all Ireland 
was aroused by an address from O'Connell himself to the elect- 
ors of Clare, soliciting their votes, and affirming that he was 
qualified to be elected and serve them in Parliament, although 



326 History of Irela7id. 

he would never take the oath (that the Mass is idolatry), for, 
said he, if you elect me the most bigoted of our enemies will 
see they must remove this odious oath from the statute book. 

After this election, the Duke of Wellington, who had a few 
months before declared against Catholics sitting in a Protestant 
legislature with any kind of safety, and who had taken office to 
defeat their claims, became suddenly converted, and said that 
the choice lay between Catholic emancipation and civil war. 

As for Peel, he had already made up his mind to be easily 
converted, his conscience presented no difficulty. The Parlia- 
ment met in February, 1829, and the King's speech, prepared 
no doubt by Peel, urged the removal of Catholic disabilities, 
and Peel on the 5th of March moved for a committee of the 
whole house to consider the same. The motion was carried, 
after a warm debate, by a large majority. 

And now arose the most tremendous clamor of bigoted Prot- 
estants. The like had not been heard since the days v/hen James 
the Second attempted to place both religions on an equality. 
Numerous petitions, not only from Irish Protestants (all of whom 
feared they might lose their ill-gotten store), but from Scotch 
presbyteries, English universities, from corporations of British 
cities and towns, from private individuals, came pouring into 
Parliament, praying that the great Protestant state of England 
might be kept out of the hands of the Pope and the Jesuits. 
Never before was heard such a jumble of topics, sacred and pro- 
fane, as these petitions contained. Vested interests, idolatry of 
the Mass, Protestant succession, the inquisition, privileges of 
Protestant tailors, or Protestant fishermen, our holy religion, 
tithes, the Bible, and the Beast of the Apocalypse, all were 
urged upon the enlightened legislators of Britain. 

Sir Robert Peel tells us that on the 4th of March the King 
wrote to him that he was at liberty to proceed with the bill. 
The emancipation bill was forthwith introduced. It contained 
neither the veto nor the provision for bribing priests, but what 
was as fatal to the Irish as either of these, an act for disfranchising 
the forty-shilling freeholders. 

Peel was determined at least not to yield this point. It was 



History of Ireland. 327 

the forty-shilling freeholders who had humbled the Beresfords 
in Waterford and Foster in Louth. It was they also who 
elected O'Connell triumphantly in Clare; and by destroying this 
whole class of voters Peel hoped to render the remaining voters 
more easily bought up. He had other reasons, which will appear 
hereafter. 

The debate on the bill was very violent and bitter. The fa- 
natics among Protestants of all stripes were deeply moved. In 
the mind of these fellows all was lost, and Peel and Wellington 
were directly charged with being agents of the Pope of Rome. 
However, the bill passed on the 30th of March by a majority of 
thirty-six. Next day it was carried to the House of Lords, and 
on the 2d of April was presented by Wellington, who urged its 
necessity in order to prevent civil war. After violent debates 
the bill was passed by a majority of one hundred and four, 
and King George the Fourth reluctantly signed it, and what is 
called Catholic Emancipation was an accomplished fact. 

O'Connell now appeared at the bar of the House to take his 
seat as a member for Clare. He was introduced by Lord Elring- 
ton, and walked to the table to be sworn by the clerk. But 
Peel had put a clause in the new law that only those elected after 
the passage of the bill should be admitted under the new oaths. 
It was a mean piece of spite, but he hoped O'Connell would be 
defeated in another election, and for this and this only he dis- 
franchised the forty- shilling freeholders, nine-tenths of all the vo- 
ters in Ireland. Accordingly, the Clerk of the House tendered 
the old oath to O'Connell, viz : "that the King of England is 
head of the Church," and the other, "that the sacrifice of the 
Mass is impious and idolatrous." He read over the stupid trash 
(says John Mitchell) in an audible voice, then raising his voice 
said, " I refuse to take this oath, because one part of it I know 
to be a falsehood, and the other part I don't believe is true." 

A new writ was then issued to hold an election for the county 
of Clare. This so-called emancipation consisted of three acts of 
Parliament. The first for suppressing the Catholic Association ; 
the second for disfranchising the forty-shilling freeholders in Ire- 
land, not in England, for there it was retained ; and third, the 



328 History of Ireland. 

relief act proper, abolishing the old oaths against transubstan- 
tiation, and substituting another very long and ingenious oath 
(only for Catholics), promising to maintain the Hanoverian suc- 
cession, declaring that it is no article of the Catholic faith to 
murder Kings excommunicated by the Pope; that the Pope has 
no temporal jurisdiction within the realm; promising to defend 
the settlement of property as established by law, viz : those who 
hold the lands stolen by Elizabeth, James the First, Cromwell 
and Dutch Billy shall not be disturbed, and also disavowing any 
intention to subvert the present church established by law, and 
never to disturb or weaken the Protestant religion or Protestant 
government. Verily, Protestantism must be very shaky when 
it requires so many props. 

Imperfect as the emancipation act was, it was felt in Ireland 
to be a great triumph. The Catholics all butworshiped O'Con- 
nell as their heaven-sent deliverer, and the sectarian bigots 
thought the end of the world was at hand. 

KING WILLIAM THE FOURTH 

died in June, 1837, ^I'^cl Victoria succeeded him — a disastrous 
reign to Ireland. Every act through her now long reign was 
marked by cruelty toward the people of Ireland. The three 
first were the Poor Law, the Tithe Law, and the Law for Munic- 
ipal Reform. Poor laws had become a necessity in England 
after the suppression of the monasteries during Henry the 
Eighth's Reformation. In Catholic times, and according to 
Catholic ideas, alms-giving was a Christian duty. Under Prot- 
estantism it had to become a tax. These monasteries had been 
endowed by charitable people mainly for the relief of the poor, 
but when Henry commenced reforming, and at the same time 
murdering and stealing, these lands and buildings were taken 
from the poor and bestowed on courtiers who would support 
him in his debaucheries, and from his time the poor were 
despised. During Catholic times the poor man was a brother, 
whom it was a privilege and a duty to relieve. Under Prot- 
estantism he became one of the " dangerous classes, " to be well 
watched, and to be often punished. 



CHAPTEE VII 



Famines in Ireland and the Cause Thereof— Landlords— Tlio Tenant 
System — A Review of the Causes that Troduce Distress Among 
the Irish. 



lf^{ AKING chanty a compulsory tax was unknown in Ireland, 
rf^^g^ as it is still unknown in France and other Catholic coun- 
tries. Poor people had been always with us in Ireland, but no 
able-bodied paupers by profession. If a third of the population 
was sometimes in a half-starving condition for half the year, the 
others, who had more, shared with their suffering neighbors, and 
thought they were doing God service. Christian charity was 
not yet worked by machinery or exacted by the sheriff and his 
deputies. In short, poor as the Irish were — and they were 
only poor because the English eat them out of house and 
home — their whole nature was opposed to the idea of Poor laws. 
But it was now the design of the British to afflict them with 
this plague, and for two principal reasons — first, to obtain con- 
trol through their own officials of the great mass of the poor, 
who might otherwise become elements of revolutionary dis- 
turbance. Second, to aid the landlords, for when there should 
be great poor-houses in every district to receive the homeless 
people, landlords would have less hesitation in turning out on 
the highways whole townships at once. 

In the fall of 1843, O'Connell offered in the City Council of 
Dublin a resolution demanding a repeal of the Union with Eng- 
land. He cited the ablest jurists to show that the so-called 
Union was in law a nullity ; told his audience, what could not be 
denied, that supposing the two Parliaments competent to pass 
the act, it had been obtained by fraud and open bribery. In 
the London Parliament the Queen spoke her piece. She said 



330 History of Ireland. 

she was "determined, under the help of Divine Providence, to 
maintain the Union ! " All knew what she meant by the words 
"blessing of Divine Providence" was that she would meet the 
case with horse, foot and artillery. In truth, it was time for 
England either to provoke a fight and blow away repeal with 
cannon, or yield up her unjust claim to rule Ireland. Many of 
the Protestants were joining O'Connell, and the troops in some 
Irish regiments were known to throw up their caps and hurrah 
for repeal. 

In the winter of 1847 the ministry announced a loan of ten 
million pounds sterling for the relief of the Irish famine ; half of 
this to be paid in rates by the Irish themselves, the other half 
to be a grant from the treasury — this John and his newspapers 
said was so much English money granted to Ireland. This, of 
course, was a falsehood. It was a loan raised on the taxation 
of the three kingdoms, and the principal of it, like the rest of 
the national debt, was never intended to be paid, and as for the 
interest, Ireland would have to pay her proportion of it as a 
matter of course, as John himself kept the books. This act 
was the third of the relief measures, and the most destructive 
of all. It was to be a system of out-door relief. In the admin- 
istration of it there were to be many thousands of officials, 
great and small. The largest salaries were for Englishmen, but 
some of the smaller were once in a while given to Irishmen. 

The government had now got into its own hands all the means 
of working out this problem. At one time there were odds 
against the sum coming out right, for charitable people in 
America did contribute generously, believing that every pound 
they subscribed would give Irish famine twenty shillings' worth 
of bread. Yes, they thought so, and poured in their contribu- 
tions, and their prayers and blessings with them. But the gov- 
ernment got hold of the contributions and disposed of them in 
such a manner as to prevent their disarranging their calcula- 
tions. All the nations of the earth might be defied to relieve 
Ireland, beset by such a government. America tried another 
plan — the ship Jamestown sailed into Cork harbor and dis- 
charged a large cargo, which began to give relief and bring 



History of Ireland. 331 

down prices of provisions, when free trade, which carried away 
their, own harvest the year before, comes in, freights other 
ships, and carries away from Cork to Liverpool as much fully 
as the American cargo, for private speculators must be compen- 
sated, and their business must be protected. If these Ameri- 
cans will not give England their corn, wheat and flour to dis- 
tribute, then she defeats their kindness by the natural laws of 
trade. 

Private charity, even in Ireland, interfered with the calcula- 
tions of the government. But that, too, was in a great measure 
brought under control. The Relief act — talking of eight mill- 
ions of money to be used if needed, set charitable people 
everywhere to study its pamphlets and compare its clauses, 
putting everybody in terror of its rates and in horror of its in- 
spectors — was likely to pass in the summer. It would perhaps be 
partly understood by August, and would expire in September. 

In 1846, not less than three hundred thousand perished, either 
of hunger or typhus fever caused by hunger. But the British 
government has ever since tried to conceal the amount of the 
carnage, and shift it off their own shoulders onto Providence. 

In 1847, the Protestant bishops issued a form of thanksgiving 
for an "abundant harvest," to be read in all churches, and the 
Queen issued a royal letter asking alms in all the churches on 
the day of thanksgiving. The Irish papers, with one voice, 
said: "To-morrow, over England, Scotland and Wales, the 
people who, devour our substance from year to year are to offer 
up their canting thanksgivings for our abundant harvest, which 
they mean, as usual, to carry off, and throw us certain crumbs 
and crusts of it for charity. Now, to these church-going hypo- 
crites we, in the name of the Irish people, would say : Keep 
your alms ye canting robbers button your pockets upon the 
Irish plunder that is in them, and let the begging-box pass on. 
We spit upon the benevolence that robs us of a pound and 
throws us back a penny in charity. Contribute now if you will, 
these will be our thanks." The Irish papers further say: "Our 
abundant harvest, for which those hypocrites are to thank God 
to-morrow, is still here, and there has been talk of keeping it 



332 History of Ireland, 

here. So they say to one another, ' Let us promise them char- 
ity out of our churches and they will the more willingly allow us 
to carry off their wheat and their cattle. ' Once more, then, 
we scorn and curse the English alms, and wish these words 
could reach before noon to-morrow ever)^ sanctimonious thanks- 
giver in England, Scotland and Wales." 

At the same time the statistics showed that everyday twenty 
steamships, besides numbers of sailing vessels, left Ireland for 
England, all laden with that "abundant harvest" for which 
these robbers were giving thanks in their churches. During 
1847 coroners' juries on inquests over famine-slain corpses, 
found, upon their oaths, verdicts of willful murder against the 
Queen and Lord John Russell, he being the Queen's Prime 
Minister. The verdict was perfectly justifiable, but English 
law says the King or Queen can do no wrong, and as there was 
no power to bring Lord John over to Ireland for trial, and no 
use in arraigning him before an English jury, both the crimi- 
nals escaped justice. And now I would say to our American 
friends, let them not suppose that Ireland is ungrateful to them 
for their relief, but should Ireland starve again — as she surely 
will if she continues under English rule — let them never send 
her a bushel of corn or a dollar in money, as neither bushel or 
dollar will ever reach her. 

In February, 1847, amid the horror of the famine, O'Connell, 
old and sick, left Ireland, and left it forever. He desired to see 
the Pope before he died. By painful stages he traveled as far 
as Genoa, and there died on the 15th of May. 

In a report made by the Government Commissioner, the total 
value of the produce of Ireland in 1847 was forty-five million 
pounds sterling, which would have sustained double the entire 
people of the island. This commissioner also reports that at 
least five hundred thousand human beings perished this year by 
famine, and two hundred thousand more fled beyond the sea to 
escape famine. He also reports the loans for relief, to be repaid 
by rates on Irish property, went, in the first place, to pay ten 
thousand greedy officials, and that the greater part of the money 
never reached the people at all, or reached them in such a way 



History of Ireland. 333 

as to ruin and exterminate them. A kind of sacred and patriotic 
wrath took possession of a few Irishmen at this time. They 
could endure the horrible scene no longer, and resolved to cross 
the path of the British lion though he should crush them to 
death. 

Queen Victoria would not wait till the Irish had gathered the 
harvest, but decreed if they would fight, they must fight fasting. 

In 1848 and 1866 attempts were made by patriotic Irishmen 
to free their country from the iron rule of England. Both at- 
tempts failed, and many said both were rash and badly managed. 
That those who made the bold attempt were honest,, none will 
doubt. Let one who took part in both attempts tell of his 
hopes and disappointments : 

Twenty years have gone and o'er — twenty years have passed to-day, 
Since I sailed, nigh broken-hearted, from poor Ireland far away. 
I was then a goodly stripling, stout and strong, and jiut eighteen, 
And but few could dance or wrestle with me on the village green. 

'Twas '' the year of revolutions," in the spring of " Forty-eight," 
Despots trembled in their strongholds, tyrants met a tyrant's fate. 
Patriot men were up and doing, hope illumined every heart ; 
In the glorious cause of freedom I, too, yearned to take a part. 

Ah ! what glorious hopes we cherished : how our bounding bosoms beat ; 
Little dreamed we of the coming of disaster or defeat. 
Freedom's voice was gaily singing by a thousand gushing rills, 
And Meagher and O'lVIahony were out upon the hills. 

I shouldered my good rifle, and with more than forty round 
Of as good and true ball cartridge as 'ere shot tyrant down, 
Early left one Sunday morning, took my way across the glen. 
And I joined the gallant Meagher with his band of free-born men. 

How it ended in disaster, how the flag of freedom fell 
'Neath the bayonets of the tyrants, it is bootless now to tell. 
I, an outlaw, roamed the mountain, with the heather for my bed^ 
England's scarlet troopers after, and a price upon my head. 

After months of toil and struggle, I at last a refuge found 

On the good ship Daniel Webster, for the land of freedom bound. 



334 History of Ireland. 



Sailed away from Galway harbor by the setting of the sun, 

O'er the boundless billows dashing, 'neath the flag of Washington. 

I saw the shores of Ireland fading in the evening's glow, 
How I blessed the dear old country ! how I cursed her ruthless foe ! 
And I prayed that heaven would spare me, till upon her hills again 
I should see her banner floating, borne by fifty thousand men. 

One by one the years I reckoned, wearily the time passed on. 
Waiting, watching, longing, praying for that glorious day to dawn ; 
Hope still lingered in my bosom, whispered in my darkest woes, 
That my country yet should triumph o'er her dark and bitter foes. 

Friendless and alone I wandered, heart and brain with care oppressed. 
From the waters of the Hudson to the prairies of the West. 
Twenty years thus glided over, till at last I settled down 
On the shores of grand Lake Erie, in fair Cleveland's goodly town. 

On a lovely summer evening, I was sitting by the door, 
Gazing on the golden sunset as it fringed Lake Erie's shore. 
Suddenly my ear was startled by a noise upon the street, 
With the sound of many voices and the tramp of many feet. 

Up I leaped and gazed around me on a dense and swelling crowd, 
That adown the street came rushing, people cheering long and loud. 
How my Irish blood went leaping as I gazed upon the scene. 
Heavens! how my heart went throbbing, when I saw theiv flag of green. 

On they came, the gallant fellows, with their banner floating high, 
Every head erect and daring, proud defiance in each eye. 
At their leader's martial order, halted on lake Erie's banks, 
Quick as thought I grasped my rifle, and I sprang into the ranks. 

Two days after, our green banner proudly waved before the foe, 
It's bright folds in beauty beaming where Niagara's waters flow ; • 
Where the fierce and howling torrent in its savage grandeur rolls, 
But its waters were no deeper than the hatred in our souls. 

Right before us, strong in numbers, England's scarlet hirelings stood ; 
Well we knew the slaves were waiting, thirsting, panting for our blood. 
But we looked upon our banner as it proudly waved on high, 
Trusted in the God of Battles, and like men prepared to die. 



History of Ireland. 335 

Forward stepped our gallant leader, few and stern the words he said : 
" Boys, to-day the green shall triumph — triumph o'er the English red. 
Forward, Fenians, friends of freedom, trample down the Union Jack. 
Now, boys, now for dear old Ireland, charge and drive the demons back !" 

Quickly rattled every rifle, with a shower of leaden hail; 

Up against the Saxon foemen rushed the children of the Gael. 

With one cheer for Mother Ireland, on their seried ranks we pressed — 

Sprang upon their massed battalions with our bayonets at their breast. 

See Molony, how he rushes with young Fallon in the van, 
Burke, Maclvor, brave O'Donnell and the fierce O'Callihan ; 
Horrigan, with heart of vengeance, tirst and fiercest in the fight, 
Felling, crushing all before them- — wasn't it a glorious sight? 

On the proud and haughty Briton, like an avalanche we fell. 
How our bullets and our bayonets drove their legions, they know well. 
Had their hearts been stubborn granite, limbs of steel and bones of brass. 
In our dark and deadly fury, we'd have mowed them down like grass. 

From our strong and fiery onset, they recoiled in terror dread ; 
Panic-stricken, in disorder, from the field the " Queen's Own " fled. 
England's proud and haughty banner in that furious charge went down, 
And the green flag waved in triumph o'er the minions of the crown. 

I have still the same old rifle that I used upon that day. 
Lock and barrel brightly snining, in a corner stowed away. 
And I'm ready nov^ as ever, with a willing heart and hand. 
To shoulder that old rifle, in the cause of mother-land. 

At the present time (December, 1879,) i^ many places in Ire- 
land the people are again in danger of starving for want of 
bread. The British government ought to make provisions 
against this, but it will not. It, as a cruel stepmother, has 
neither love nor mercy for the child. These periodical famines 
in that land of sorrow and song are the results of English mis- 
rule, as that government has confiscated every acre on that beau- 
tiful island from its original owners, who all held their land in 
fee-simple. At the present time there are over five millions of 
persons there who do not own even one acre of land. The Irish 
laborer is a helpless creature at the mercy of these despotic land- 



336 llistofy of Ireland. 

lords. Let such a state of things be fastened by the bayonet on 
our people here in Ohio, and in three or four generations wretch- 
edness and want would be found here as well as in Ireland. 
That now unhappy land was once as free as Ohio, and eighty 
years ago made her own laws. Now her laws are made in Eng- 
land, where Irishmen are in a minority of one in fourteen, and 
this majority has no sympathy with the Irish minority. This 
state of affairs has caused so much discontent in Ireland that 
it requires fifty thousand men, soldiers and police, to prevent 
revolution. The Home-rulers, led by 

CHARLES STEWART PARNELL, 

have lately resolved to have some of these wrongs redressed. 
Mr. Parnell is said to be a very gallant gentleman. Irish on his 
father's side, he is on his mother's side an American, his mother 
having been the daughter of the late Commodore Stewart, who 
commanded the Ironsides in the war of 1812. Whether Parnell 
can control the fiery element he is gathering, and hold them in 
subjection, is a problem yet to be solved. Those who urge vio- 
lent measures at present only play the game of the landlords, who 
hope to see the unorganized peasantry slaughtered by the well 
appointed troops of England. 

The Irish people, through Mr. Parnell and others, have pro- 
claimed that God made the land of Ireland for the people of 
Ireland, and not for a few hundred idlers, who are the descend- 
ants of robbers ; that he who tills the soil has a right to the fruits 
of the soil. This, John Bull says, is an attack on the rights of 
property. England may imprison Parnell and his fellow-patriots, 
yes, she may make them ascend the scaffold steps, as she did 
Emmett and many others, but their death will only strengthen 
the great cause, and hasten the downfall of landlordism. 

Neal, in his history of the Puritans, says: "They (the Puritans) 
frequently appointed days of humiliation and fasting, to beg 
God's pardon for not being more intolerant, viz: that as they 
(the Papists) had been guilty of idolatry, a crime deserving of 
death, they (the Puritans) to whom He had given the civil power, 
had spared many of them, thus provoking the wrath of a jeal- 



History of Ireland. 337 

ous God." Oh, Protestantism ! what unspeakable horrors have 
been committed on the people of Ireland in thy name ! There 
religion has been paraded in foul alliance with both sin and 
shame, and the government has been, and is yet, carried on by 
the. aid of informers, the vilest and most wicked of human kind. 
And yet, Protestantism unmixed with politics is not intolerant, 
for what could be more inconsistent than telling men, " read the 
Scriptures and learn religion," and then punish them for doing 
so ? Many Irish patriots, such as Henry Grattan, Robert Em- 
mett, Wolfe Tone, Wm. Sherman Crawford, and the late la- 
mented John Mitchell, were Protestants, perhaps I should say 
non-Catholics, for about all of them cut loose from the Church 
of England, or the sectarian churches, when they became pa- 
triots. Men who have, or pretend to have, a full supply of cut- 
and-dried religion, and who audibly say "amen" at prayer, or 
in class-meetings, are rarely patriots — they know nothing of 
philanthropy, and in their dealings with their fellow-men need 
watching in Ireland, as well as in this country. 

I sincerely hope Ireland will never cease to honor her Prot- 
estant patriots. They were the truest and best of the brave. 
They should honor them, first, because they were true to Ire- 
land; second, because they went in heart and soul for civil and 
religious liberty; and, third, because they strove to bring Prot- 
estant and Catholic to join hands and sacrifice their disgraceful 
quarrels on the altar of their country. 

It must seem like digression to thus mix England's misdeeds 
with Irish history, but it is impossible to write that history 
truly without doing so, as English bayonets and Irish land laws 
are twin brothers. The writer was born and raised on the Green 
Isle, and is in a position to know the condition of the two classes 
(landlord and tenant) there. From my knowledge of the land- 
lords of Ireland, I can affirm that, while they earn nothing by 
labor, and are not equal to their tenants on the score of morality, 
they enjoy the pleasures of life in food plenty and sumptuous, 
in houses warm and convenient, and in freedom from all the 
hardships endured by those upon whose labor and sweat they 
subsist. I further know that for this easy and laborless exist- 



338 History of Ireland, 

ence these landlords make no return. I also know that such a 
disparity in the comforts of existence between those who earn 
and dare not spend, and those who spend what they do not 
earn, must breed discontent against the laws, especially as 
the tenants know (what all readers of history know) that few 
of these landlords have a just title to these lands. I also know 
from observation that many of those whose labor and toil sup- 
ports these landlords in idleness live on poor food and in poorer 
houses, and that in their social and moral condition they are de- 
serving of a far better existence. It causes these landlords no 
anxiety whether the farmer's children have bread or not, and no 
remorse is by them felt when exacting the last shilling of the 
half-year's rent whether the farmers' children are educated 
or not, while at the same time they are educating their 
own children with the money others have earned. It would 
be easy to horrify the reader with details of landlord cruelties 
in Ireland. They are yet exacting their tribute there as usual, 
famine or no famine, and a ship sailing into any Irish harbor 
loaded with Indian corn, is sure to meet half-a-dozen sailing out 
with Irish wheat, hogs and cattle. No wonder the sway of these 
landlords in Ireland is considered by the natives as an usurpa- 
tion and an injustice, and in their efforts at present to get rid of 
them they are only acting like a man who, having given his 
purse to save his life, thinks he has a right to reclaim it when 
the danger is over. These landlords are now before the bar of 
public opinion and are shrinking from the verdict they appre- 
hand. Like other criminals they deny their guilt, but the world 
has now opened its ears to Ireland's story, and England cannot 
long remain deaf to the voice of universal indignation. The 
public opinion of this age mounts a throne higher than that of 
Victoria, though she is Empress of India. National crimes, 
such as those of England in respect to Ireland, are slow of pun- 
ishment, but that punishment is sure in the end, although " the 
mills of the gods grind slow." Yet the cloud that to-day hides 
from our view the future of nations maybe scattered to-morrow, 
and the arm of God may be seen bared. England feels that 
land agitation in Ireland cannot be managed in the ordinary 



History of Ireland. 339 

way, and has decided to renew the Irish Coercion acts. History 
there is being made rapidly, and as Ireland at present is in no 
humor to be stamped upon, we may look for startling develop- 
ments before many months. This Coercion Act authorizes the 
police to arrest any person or number of persons and cast them 
into prison without any charge against them. It was the law 
in Ireland in 1800, renewed in 1801, continued to 1804, renewed 
in 1807, continued to 1810, renewed in 1814, continued through 
'15, '16 and '17, renewed in '22 and continued through '23, '24 
and 25 ; it was again needed in '33, and continued to '40, and 
again, in '46, it was renewed and in force for four or five years, 
and now, in 1880, Victoria says there is organized resistance to 
"legal rights" in Ireland, and that she requires "additional 
powers" for the' protection of property and life — that is, high 
life, of course. These coercion bills are as much alike as one 
pohceman's cap is like another. The Lord-Lieutenant can pro- 
claim a whole county, and everybody must be within doors 
(whether he has a house or not) from dusk till morning. He 
can appoint as many additional pohce and detectives, and offer 
such reward to informers as he thinks fit, and charge all to the 
tenants. 

The reader will observe that the English government, from 
the Monarchy to the Commonwealth and back again to Mon- 
archy, has always held one objective point, and that was and is 
hatred of Ireland and the Irish. Till Queen Elizabeth's reign 
the Irish had a flourishing trade .in supplying England with cat- 
tle — this was forbidden by act of Parliament. Thereupon the 
Irish killed their cattle at home and sent them to England as 
salted meat. This provoked another act of Parliament, forbid- 
ding the importation of cattle from Ireland dead or alive. Driven 
to their wit's ends, the Irish turned the hides of their cattle into 
leather, which they exported to England. This was also for- 
bidden. Then they took to sheep-raising, and sent fine vool to 
England. At this the landed interest of England took alarm, 
and Irish wool was declared contraband by act of Parliament. 
The Irish then manufactured the raw material at home, and 
drove a thriving trade in woolen cloth. The English manufac- 



340 History of Ireland. 

turers clamored against Irish competition, and Irish woolens were 
excluded. They were, however, so excellent that the industry 
still flourished. But English jealousy never ceased to clamor 
against it, and in the year 1698 both Houses of Parliament 
petitioned the King to suppress it. The woolen trade being 
destroyed, the Irish tried their hand, with marked success, at 
the manufacture of silk. From that field, too, British law drove 
them in despair. They next tried smaller industries, since all 
others were taken from them. They succeeded well in making 
glass, but were summarily stopped by a law prohibiting the 
exportation of glass from Ireland, and its importation into Ire- 
land from any country save England. Soap and candle-making 
were next tried, and with like results. To such a pitch did this 
cruel policy reach that the fishermen of Ireland were forbidden 
to fish along their own coasts, because, forsooth ! the fish mar- 
kets of England might be injured. Thus, England first robbed 
my countrymen of their land, and when they betook themselves 
to other industries for a living, of these she robbed them also 
and drove them back upon the land exclusively for their support, 
at the mercy of cruel landlords. And yet England says the 
and question in Ireland is an attack on the rights of property. 
All history shows that famines are impossible in nations of di- 
versified industries, and are felt only in countries entirely agri- 
cultural. France, when only agricultural, was often tamine- 
stricken, as Ireland now is, but that scourge has been unknown 
since she diversified her industries. India, under British rule, 
has been often afflicted by famine, as in Egypt and part of Africa 
at the present day. All history shows that famines are only felt 
among people who are entirely agricultural. It seems contra- 
dictory that the producers of food should starve for lack of it, 
but that it is so is irrefutably taught by history. England knew 
this, and having failed to annihilate the Irish by the more costly 
and less cowardly implement, the sword, introduced the famine 
by her system of legal thieving. 

Beaconsfield, speaking in the name of Victoria, tells the starv- 
ing Irish : You shall have no native Parliament, you shall have 
no right in the soil, you shall have no right to meet or complain of 



History of Jre/and, 341 

grievances or ask redress — the Peace Preservation act stops all 
that. He finally tells them, in substance, you may live or die, 
we care not ! The failure of the potato and other crops in Ire- 
land was known in October, 1879,, still better known in Novem- 
ber, yet December, January, February, March and April have 
come and gone, and not a mouthful of food from the British 
treasury for a hungry Irishman has been given ! While the 
whole civilized world has opened its ears, hearts and purses to 
the famine cry of Ireland, the British government, who is the 
recipient of forty million a year of Irish taxes, and seventy mill- 
ion a year of land rent, has shut ears, eyes and heart to the cry 
of my suffering countrymen. Tis true the government loaned 
^3,000,000 to Irish landlords at one per cent., and Victoria told 
the world how kind she was. The landlords pocketed the money 
and the people go begging. 

It is a historical fact that during the famine of 1847, grain, 
butter, cattle, sheep, hogs and potatoes in large quantities were 
shipped to England. Then, as now, the Irish had to depend 
on public charity. Much money was then subscribed. A good 
deal of it was wasted, a portion of it, as usual, was stolen, but 
what was used to stay the famine was all, or almost all, spent in 
the purchase of that grain and oatmeal which had been sent 
from Ireland across the Channel and sold to English traders, 
and bought again from these traders at one hundred per cent, 
profit. It was hoped that the cruel folly of 1847 would not be 
repeated in 1880, and that whatever food there was in Ireland 
when the famine became an assured fact, would by the govern- 
ment have been kept in the country. I may be told that my 
words are antagonistic to the principles of political economy. 
That may be so, but they are the words of simple truth. Lord 
Beaconsfield's make-shift of a measure passed both Houses of 
Parliament the past week. It is said to be a bill for the relief 
of Ireland — not so, but for the advantage of the landlords of 
that country, most of whom live in England, and scarcely any 
of them subscribed anything to the Famine Fund. Beacons- 
field advanced money to the landlords to be spent in improve- 
ments upon their estates. By the time the present famine has 



342 Uistory of Ireland. 

passed away, these improvements will have increased the gov- 
ernment value of their land. What after that ? Not much — , 
only that the tenants, who cannot pay the present rent, will be 
called upon to pay still more, and should they fail to submit to 
such exactions they will be turned out, and have their little cab- 
ins levelled to the ground by bailiffs protected by the bayonets 
of the police. 

This man Beaconsfield, who runs the government machine for 
Queen Victoria at present (1879), is of Jewish descent, but has 
forsaken the creed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for that of 
Henry the Eighth, Cranmer and Elizabeth. And it is said (not 
by his admirers, however,) that he is a lineal descendant of the 
impenitent thief who died on the cross — 

And that his now noble, then ignoble blood, 
Has run through scoundrels since Noah's flood. 

The appalling distress which has awakened in this free land 
so widespread a sympathy, has also drawn attention to the 
home condition of the Irish people, as none can reflect on so 
grievous a calamity without giving a thought to its possi- 
ble or probable cause. The most distressing feature of the 
Irish famine is the affection of the people. They are of all peo- 
ple the most tender-hearted and affectionate, and linger around 
their dead with a grief that is intense ; and when we see Irish 
servants in this country denying themselves every comfort, 
almost the necessaries of life, in order that they may send their 
little wages to needy parents or kindred at home, we must feel 
that there is nothing like it on this earth except the love of God. 
It is certainly a gift of providence that so light a heart is given 
to my countrymen, and yet how few of all mankind are called upon 
to endure such trials as their's. I do not here refer to the wrongs 
I have already described, but speak now of the personal and 
peculiar sorrow of the emigrant. It is the instinct of the human 
heart to seek happiness among friends that from birth it knew 
and cherished. Tearing up a plant and casting it forth to wither 
is a faint image of plucking a heart from the arms of loved 



History of Ireland. 343 

ones and casting it out on a cold, shelterless world, without a 
a friend and without a country. 

England, from the days of William the Conqueror to Beacons- 
field the Jew, has trampled over every helpless people on the 
face of the earth. Her robberies in India, in Burmah, in China 
and the West India Islands, and at this day Africa and Afghan- 
istan, are but repetitions of the way she slaughtered Irishmen for 
twenty generations, and is the most terrible record of human 
crime that ever from this earth went up to heaven's chancery ! 
England forced opium upon China at the cannon's mouth, and 
keeps it there by the same means. Yes, wealthy Christian 
England upholds this traffic, which is annually leading thousands 
of poor Chinese into moral degradation. And all to enable some 
Englishmen to make fortunes and drive to church in grand car- 
riages. The colonial system of England has been the greatest 
scourge weak nations have ever suffered. In whatever harbor 
her ships land, theft, robbery and murder become the rule in 
dealing with the natives. Her flag has been pushed around the 
globe by the motive power of piracy. The tap of her drum 
follows the sun in its course, but wherever it is heard echoes of 
suffering humanity are also heard. Wherever the flag of Eng- 
land is hoisted there we find land-grabbing on a large scale, pov" 
erty, prostitution and degradation on a still larger scale. It is 
said the streets of Melbourne, Sydney or Calcutta at night equal 
in grossness the bummer and prostitute brawls of the city of 
London. Walk through the streets of that great city at night, 
and behold it swarming with prostitutes and thieves, and so it 
is in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, or any of 
the great centers of population in either England or Scotland. 

The people of England are also chargable with much, very 
much, of the guilt of the government. If they were not influenced 
by a bigotry violent as it is unjust on the one hand, and a strong 
national antipathy against the Irish people on the other, the 
government could not have so long persevered in its course of 
injustice and oppression. The bad passions of the English 
people, which gave an evil strength to their government for the 
oppression of my countrymen, still exists, little diminished or 



344 History of Ireland. 

mitigated. In fact, there were no crimes that man ever perpe- 
trated against man, or that fiends ever invented, that were not 
practiced by the EngHsh governors of Ireland. And this spirit 
Hves yet. The mode of exhibiting it is different, and though 
its virulence is turned into another channel its existence and 
vitality are not the less marked. It is scarcely credible, and 
yet it is literally true, that when they were massacred by thou- 
sands, they were accused of the very crimes committed against 
themselves. 

What Clarendon and Temple asserted has been copied by that 
infidel falsifier of history, Hume, and the people of Ireland for 
simply defending their homes and their firesides, which really 
merited the applause of all good men, were charged with foul 
and horrible slaughter. The charge was brought against the 
Irish by Clarendon in these words: "On the 23d of October, 
1 64 1, a rebellion broke out in Ireland, and forty or fifty thou- 
sand Protestants were murdered before they could provide for 
their defense. " 

Temple aggravates the crime. This is his statement : "One 
hundred and fifty thousand Protestants were murdered in the 
first two months of the rebellion." Milton, in his first edition, 
has the following passage: "During the Irish rebellion in 1641, 
over one hundred and fifty-four thousand Protestants were mur- 
dered in Ulster alone, which, added to the other three provinces, 
makes the total slaughter, in all likelihood, four times as great." 

It is true this passage has been softened in subsequent edi- 
tions, but the enemies of Ireland had the full benefit of Milton's 
falsehood at the very time that it was most important for them 
to have it. At the present day, however, no writer of charac- 
ter would venture to repeat the calumny. The horrible charge 
fulfilled the purpose for which it was intended — namely, an ex- 
cuse for plunder. And the practice of imputing this crime to 
Irishmen has almost ceased among the better class of English, 
and altogether among impartial American writers. 

Lingard, whose work is the only one that deserves the name 
of a history of England, has very properly omitted all mention 
of what is called "the Irish massacre." He has told in his 



History of Ireland. 345 

notes the reason of this omission. And no one can read this 
reason without the most thorough conviction of the utter false- 
hood of the story told by Clarendon and Temple. In the same 
spirit an article appeared in the North American Rcviezv, 1879, 
with the heading, "Romanism and the Irish in the United 
States." I do not intend to review all of Froude's misstate- 
ments and slanders on my countrymen. If I believed that 
abuse was argument, I might impeach the credibility of this 
enemy of my creed and race by showing that he merited the 
nickname of "James Anthony Fraud," by his falsification of 
history. Froude says the Catholic religion is at open war with 
the principles of the American Constitution, and that no Cath- 
olic can be a true American. Now, to show the groundlessness 
of this Englishman's fears (perhaps I should say hopes,) that 
the American Constitution will be violated or overthrown by 
Irishmen, I would here say that the bearing of Irishmen toward 
the laws and institutions of this country, through the war of 
Independence, the war of 18 12, the Mexican war, and our late 
war, and their obedience to the laws of this happy land in all 
the past, is a good guarantee for their conduct in the future. 
Besides, all Irishmen swear to support the Constitution of the 
United States when called upon by the authorities, just as do 
other citizens, and the laws of the Catholic Church enjoin on 
them the duty of obeying the laws of their country, under pain 
of violating the laws of God. Froude, as an authority, has 
never been accepted by Catholics. But Protestants have 
patted him on the back, and when he made outrageous attacks 
on the Irish people and the Catholic Church, sectarian preach- 
ers greeted him with loud applause. Now read what he says of 
these sectarians. He says : " But now the Irish in America are 
strong without any more additions from without ; there are 
already 6,000,000 of them. They preserve and cherish the ab- 
stinence from sexual vice which distinguished them so honorably 
at home, and this is favorable to large families." What does 
this mean but that 36,000,000 of Americans who are found 
among the sects, are not free from sexual vice. And that the 
preponderance of Catholics in this country will be mainly due 



346 History of Ireland. 

to the purity of their wives and daughters. Surely a greater 
affront could not well be offered to these sects than thus showing 
up the worthlessness of their pinchback religion, and telling 
them that in morals they are inferior to the contemptible trash 
that he, Froude, represents the Irish to be. John Bull must have 
lately been taken with a fit of sympathy for the United States, 
for his hireling, Froude, says the Irish do not become Americans 
fast enough. Now, as a matter of fact, they are Americans 
frequently before they reach this country, and when they do 
reach it, all the world knows they are ready to fight for it with 
all the valor characteristic of their race. This John Bull knows 
to his cost. It was not to Froude's interest to mention it, how- 
ever, when he was writing his article for the Reviezv, in 1 879. 
This much I have considered it my duty to say of that article, 
which, I believe no intelligent American would have written. 

England's aim has always been to keep the Irish peasant in a 
condition to make him manageable, and an available material 
for her armies. And those who believe British civilization is 
a blessing will not dispute this. But those who deem it the 
most base and horrible tyranny that ever scandalized the earth, 
will wish that its indispensable prop, Ireland, were knocked 
from under it, as then it would surely fall. 

Except the ryots of India, who also are under British rule, 
the Irish tenants at will are the most miserable on the globe. 
There is a season when no one is allowed to hunt hare, stag and 
deer, but Irish tenants are hunted the year round. During the 
years i848-'49 the government census commissioners admit 
9, 300 deaths by famine alone. This would be true if multiplied 
by twenty-five. In 1850 there were 7, 500 admitted by the same 
authorities, and in the first quarter of 1851, 655 deaths from 
hunger are by them recorded. In the midst of this havoc and 
death the Queen visited Ireland, and the great army of people 
there, who are paid to be loyal, got up the appearance of re- 
joicing. One Mr. O' Riley, in Great George's street, hoisted on 
the top of his house a large black banner, and draped his win- 
dows with black curtains showing the words " Famine and Pesti- 
lence," but the police burst into the house, tore down the flag 



lEistory of Ireland. 347 

and curtains, and thrust the proprietor into jail. Victoria's pre- 
caution against any show of dissatisfaction was successful, and 
Ireland in her presence was tranquil enough. 

Now, as regards the morals of Ireland, England and Scot- 
land, we find there are in England two convicted criminals in 
every four thousand persons ; in Ireland, two in every five thou- 
sand, while in Scotland there is two in every three thousand. 
So the gradation of crime is — Ireland, bad; England, worse; 
Scotland, worst. Now, assuming these figures to be correct, 
there is still a set-off in favor of Ireland. From what class do 
prisoners come? Not surely from the well-to-do? The man 
who stirs his tea with a silver spoon is further removed from 
figuring in a police court than the man struggling with poverty, 
or the man cared so little for by the world that an honest char- 
acter is not a great consideration to him. Generally speaking, 
though poverty is not a crime, it is from the poor the greater 
part of our criminals come. Now, as the English, who are gen- 
erally rich, have less temptations to crime, it follows that the 
poor of Ireland, who are subject to these temptations, are less 
criminal and less immoral than the poor of any country in the 
world. 

The returns given also by the Register General for the three 
kmgdoms, show that the illegitimate births in Ireland are three 
per cent. ; in England, six per cent., and in Scotland, nine per 
cent. If we re-divide Ireland, again we find that the more 
Scotch and English, the more illegitimacy, and the fewer for- 
eigners the less immorality. In the north and east of Ireland, 
where the Cromwellians are settled, the illegitimate births are 
six per cent. — nearly as bad as England, while in the west, where 
all, or nearly all, are Celts, the illegitimate births foot up but 
one per cent. In some places in Scotland, Banf, for instance, 
the Register General gives the number of illegitimate births at 
sixteen in every hundred, and in Norfolk, England, ten in 
every hundred. As a matter of fact, few foreign countries sup- 
ply criminal statistics of any value, in point of accuracy ; but it 
is well known that the virtue of Erin's lovely daughters is un- 
equalled in any other land, 



348 History of Ireland. 

The gifted writer of the following lines, whose name is John 
Whelan, and an adopted citizen of Haverhill, Massachusetts, 
says: " The following lines were suggested to me by reading an 
article not long since in a local paper, where some aspersions 
were thrown upon the good name of our noble-hearted servant 
girls." This, of course, is nothing to be wondered at in Puritan 
New England : 

Some thoughtless words are often hurl'd against the faithful band. 
Who like their exiled brothers are a bulwark in this land. 
They left their humble homes beyond the broad unfathomed main, 
With honest hearts and willing hands a pittance here to gain. 

The glow of health and beauty shone upon their cheeks so fair, 

The light that beamed from out their eyes bespoke that hope was there. 

Unspoken vows were on their lips whatever lands they'd roam, 

That they would ne'er forget the friends they left in grief at home. 

Full well they kept their cherished vows, those distant friends can prove. 

For letters bore glad tidings back of their undying love. 

Nor is this all those gen'rous hearts sent o'er the ocean's foam. 

For millions of their hard-won gains went to their friends at home. 

Ah ! who can boast of braver hearts, of purer love than theirs, 
Despite their strange vicissitudes, their worldly griefs and cares 
For wealth and opulence ne'er smile upon their humble sphere. 
But ceaseless toil from day to day is all their portion here. 

Whence come these harsh, unkindly words, that cold, embittered frown ? 
If worth could reap its true reward, then they might wear a crown. 
Their deeds of love and charity may not on banners wave, 
But, like their love of chastity, will bloom beyond the grave. 

The present famine is so evidently the creation of landlordism 
that hypocrisy, however strained, cannot charge it to Divine 
Providence, as on former occasions. These repeated famines, 
manufactured by English laws, have been borne long by the 
people of Ireland by supplicating Providence to change the laws 
of nature on their particular account. God's laws are just and 
impartial, and when eight millions of the Irish people submitted 
to famine in 1847 ^.nd 1848, with plenty of provisions in the 



History of Ireland. 349 

land, what right had they to look for miracles ? Was not the 
tragedy that followed, 2,000,000 of deaths, a judgment against 
them for their submission to foreign rule ? The English never 
appeal to God — they appeal first to cannon and bayonets, and 
when they have succeeded, then return thanks, taking it for 
granted He has decreed their success. When Cromwell told his 
army to " trust in God and keep their powder dry," was it not 
the trust in the dry powder promoted his triumph in Ireland ? 
Surely God never approved the slaughter of women and child- 
ren, yet He certainly permitted it, and never interfered with the 
effect of the dry powder. These are disagreeable facts, but it 
is clear that if Irishmen wish to be free they must face these 
facts. 

Truth thus spoken is not the road to popularity. For ages 
have Irishmen been praying to God for deliverance from tyranny. 
Were not such prayers a censure on the Deity, as He had given 
Irishmen health of body and strength of arm to free themselves ? 
That prayer to God imparts a consolation to mortals that nothing- 
else can supply, no man can doubt, but that it cannot, of itself, 
without physical force, arrest tyranny, needs no clearer proof 
than Ireland's history furnishes. 

The American reader will want to know why Irish landlords 
are permitted to levy rents on men who, if they pay these rents, 
become paupers. They will also ask why, in a Christian coun- 
try, these landlords not only give no help to the poor, but are 
hurrying them to the poor-house, with an army of agents and 
bailiffs. Should they also ask, who created that fertile island ? 
Did the landlords create it ? No ! Did the Father of all create 
it ? Yes ! Did He give it to these landlords to of^press, rob, 
and starve His children ? No ! Did He create it to supply the 
wants of those who live upon it ? Yes ! The landlord has a 
title, he says. Who gave it to him? Did anything else than 
fraud and force enter into his title ? No ! Then a title founded 
on either fraud or force is null and void. Besides, the Bible 
teaches that if a man does not work he shall not eat, and also 
that the laborer is worthy of his hire. The former of these 
utterances, if observed in Ireland, would relieve her people of 



350 History of Ireland. ' 

all landlords, and the latter unmistakably indicates the right of 
those who labor to the products of his industry. 

The following lecture, delivered by James Redpath, who had 
spent some time in Ireland as a correspondent of the New York 
Tiibiine, and who made himself familiar with the situation there, 
is so pertinent to the object of this book, and so full of facts, 
that we take pleasure in incorporating it into our work : 

" I discovered a new character in Ireland — not new to Ire- 
land, for he has been a thousand years there — but new to me ; 
for, although I had heard enough, and had read enough about 
him, I found that I had never known him. It was the Irish 
priest. 

" My father was a Scotch Presbyterian, and I was raised in 
the strictest traditions of that faith. No undue influence was 
ever brought to bear on my young mind to prejudice me in favor 
of the Catholic church. I can recall that I once heard read, 
with a somewhat tempered approval, certain kind and concilia- 
tory remarks about the devil — written by a famous Scotchman 
of the name of Robert Burns — but I cannot remember a single 
generous or brotherly expression of regard for the Roman Cath- 
olics, or for their faith. They were never called Catholics. They 
were 'Papists' always. The Catholic church was commonly re- 
ferred to, in my boyhood, under. a symbolic figure of a famous 
lady — and not an estimable lady—who had a peculiar fancy or 
fondness for scarlet garments, and who lived and sinned in the 
ancient city of Babylon. 

"I believed that I had put away these uncomely prejudices of 
my early education, but the roots of them, I found, must still 
have remained in my mind ; for how else could I explain the sur- 
prise I felt, even the gratified surprise, that these Irish priests 
were generous and hospitable, and warm-hearted, and cultivated 
gentlemen ? For so I found them always, and I met them often 
and everywhere. I believe that I have no more cordial friends 
anywhere in Ireland than among the Irish priests; and I am 
sure that in America there is no man — the words of whose 
creed do not keep time to the solemn music of the centuries 



History of Ireland. 351 

coronated anthems of the ancient church — who has for them a 
more fraternal feeling or a sincerer admiration. 

"The Irish priest is the tongue of the blind Samson of Ire- 
land. But for the Irish priest thousands of the Irish peasants 
would have been dead to-day, even after ample stores of food 
had been sent from America to save them. Many a lonely vil- 
lage, hidden among the bleak mountains of the west, would 
have been decimated by famine if the priest had not been there 
to tell of the distress, and to plead for the peasant. 

"The Irish priest justifies his title of Father by his fatherly 
care of his people. He toils for them from dawn till midnight. 

"It is a vulgar and a cruel slander to represent the Irish 
priests as living in idle luxury when Irish peasants are famishing 
around them. I have entered too many of their lowly homes — 
as a stranger unexpected — but as a stranger from America, never 
unwelcomed ; I have seen too often and too near their humble 
surroundings to listen with indifference or without indignation 
to aspersions so unworthy and untrue. I can hardly conceive 
of a severer test to which sincerity and self-sacrifice can be put 
than these Irish priests endure without seeming to be conscious 
that they are exhibiting uncommon courage or proving that they 
have renounced the world and its ambitions ; for educated men 
with cultivated tastes, they live in an intellectual isolation, 
among illiterate peasants, in poverty and obscurity, and they 
neither repine nor indulge in the subtle pride of self-conscious 
self-consecration. 

"For one, and, albeit, one of this world only, I profoundly 
honor self-sacrifice and self-renunciation, whatever banner they 
carry, whatever emblem they cherish, or whatever tongue they 
speak. 

"I saw one scene in Ireland that lingers lovingly in my mem- 
ory. It was at a meeting in the west of a local committee of 
the Duchess of Marlborough's fund. An Irish Lord was the 
chairman ; not a bad man, either, for a Lord ; but every Lord 
has the spirit of an upstart, and this Lord, at times, was inso- 
lent to his betters — the toilers — and a little arrogant to his 
equals — the tradesmen of the district. 



352 History of Ireland. 

"There was a deputation in the room of dejected peasants 
from one of the Islands in the bay near by. 

"It had been reported to this committee that, at a sub-com- 
mittee meeting, where the orders for Indian meal were distrib- 
uted, the tattered and hungry crowd had been somewhat disor- 
derly — that is to say, they Avere starving, and had clamored im- 
patiently for food instead of waiting with patience for their 
petty allocations. ' My Lord' rebuked their ragged representa- 
tives harshly and in a domineering tone ; and, without asking 
leave of his associates on the committee, he told them that if 
such a scene should occur again their supply of food would be 
stopped. I was astonished that he should presume to talk in 
such tones before an American citizen — he, who ought, I 
thought, to have his hand on his mouth and his mouth in the 
dust, in presence of the damnatory facts, that he lived on an es- 
tate from which peasants, now exiles in America, had been 
evicted by hundreds, and that neither he nor his brother, a 
marquis, whom he represented, had given a shilling for the re 
lief of the wretched tenants upon his wide domains, nor reduced 
his Shylock rental, although thousands of these tenants were, 
at that very hour, living on provisions bought by the generosity 
of the citizens of the United States and of other foreign lands. 

"One of the ragged committee pressed the claims of his 
famishing constituency with an eloquence that was poor in 
words but rich in pathos. ' My Lord ' said that he would try to 
do something for them ; ' but, ' he added, and again in a dicta- 
torial tone, ' That, although her Grace, the Duchess of Marl- 
borough, might consent to- reheve them, that they had no right 
to expect it; that the funds were hers, not theirs; that the noble 
lady was under no obligations to relieve them.' 

"The poor man, hat in hand, was going away sorrowful. I 
sat, a heretic, beside a priest — a republican beside a Lord — and 
I thought, with no little inward indignation, that I was the only 
person within the room, and I a stranger, whose heart throbbed 
with pity for the stricken man. For my hands were gnawing 
with hunger, just famishing for a taste of his Lordship's throat. 

" |3ut, as I looked around the room, I saw a sudden flash in 



History of Ireland. 353 

the priest's eye that told of a power before which the pride of 
ancestral rank is but as grass before a prairie fire. 

"'I beg your Lordship's pardon!' said the priest, with a 
sublime haughtiness. ' I do not agree with you. The money 
does not belong to her Grace. She holds the money in trust 
only. We have a right to it. It belongs to the poor ! ' 

" The Lord was cowed ; the peasant won. 

"No man but a priest, at that table, would have dared to 
talk in that style to a Lord. 

" More than eighteen centuries have passed since a Roman 
judge said to a missionary of the cross : ' Almost thou per- 
suadest me to be a Christian.' I do not believe that there has 
lived a man since then who felt more profoundly than I did at 
that moment the spirit that prompted that immortal declara- 
tion. As long as that priest was within that room, I think I 
was a loyal son of the church. 

"I started as if I had been in a dream. Was this the nine- 
teenth century or the fifteenth ? For, again, I saw the arm of 
the lordling raised to smite the poor men ; again I saw rise be- 
tween them the august form of the Mother Church; and again 
I saw the weapon of the oppressor broken into fragments against 
the bosses of her invincible shield. And, as I looked at these 
fragments, I saw among them the shattered relics of the phari- 
saical conceit that I had been the only sympathizer of the poor 
man. I did not pick them up. I shall have no use for them in 
this world again. I had thrown down an invisible gage of bat- 
tle; the priest had taken it up, and I had been defeated. The 
Cross had conquered me. And henceforth, under what flag 
soever I may fight, whenever I see the white banner of the 
Irish priest pass by, I shall dip my own colors in salutation to 
it, in memory and in honor of his beneficent devotion to the 
famishing Irish peasant during the famine of 1880. 

"You all know that statements and tabulated statistics have 
little influence on public opinion. So, to show to you how great 
the famine is, and to help you to guage it, I shall ask you to go 
with me rapidly from province to province, and from county to 
county, to locate and distribute the destitution. I shall not try 



354 History of Ireland. 

to entertain you. I should despise any audience that expected 
to be entertained in Hstening to the story of the famine. I shall 
be satisfied if I succeed in stimulating you to continue to act 
the part of the Good Samaritan to this poor people, that lie 
wounded and bleeding, having fallen among thieves ; while the 
part of the priest and the Levite in the Parable is played by the 
English government and the Irish landlords, from the miserly 
Queen on the throne down to the crafty Earl of Dunraven, who 
not only have passed by on the other side, but who have justi- 
fied and eulogized, and who uphold the thieves. [Hisses.] 
Mr. Redpath here stepped forward and asked: 
" Who are you hissing? Are you hissing me ? " 
Voices — "No! ''No! The Queen! Not you ! The 
Queen ! The Queen ! " 

Mr. Redpath — Oh ! Thank you ! You do well to hiss her. 
She deserves to be hissed in America. Do you know that 
Queen Victoria, even after she knew, from the Duchess of 
Marlborough, that there was universal and terrible distress in the 
west of Ireland, contributed only one day's wages to relieve it. 
Why, a poor working girl of Boston, a seamstress, after she 
listened to my lecture, gave fifty dollars for the distress I had 
so inadequately described. She would not tell her name. She 
said, ' God knows my name. ' That fifty dollars represented her 
savings for six months. Yet she gave it freely and without 
hope of the reward even of thanks or reputation in this world. 
In the roll of the Hereafter, when the list of the ' Royal Per- 
sonages' of this earth are called, the name of that poor girl, I 
believe, will stand high above the name of the Queen of Eng- 
land. 

" But I ought to say that I was not satisfied with the vast 
volume of documentary and vicarious evidence that Lhad ac- 
cumulated. I personally visited several of the districts blighted 
by the famine, and saw with my own eyes the destitution of the 
peasantry, and with my own ears heard the sighs of their un- 
happy wives and children. They were the saddest days I ever 
passed on earth, for never before had I seen human misery so 
hopeless and undeserved and so profound. I went to Ireland 



History of Ireland. 355 

because a crowd of calamities had overtaken me that made my 
own Hfe a burden too heavy to be borne. But in the ghastly 
cabins of the Irish peasantry, without fuel, without blankets 
and without food, among half-naked and blue-lipped children, 
shivering from cold and crying from hunger, among women who 
were weeping because their little ones were starving; among 
men of a race to whom a fight is better than a feast, but whose 
faces now bore the famine's fearful stamp of terror, in the west 
of Ireland, I soon forgot every trouble of my own life in the 
dread presence of the great tidal wave of sorrow that had over- 
whelmed an unhappy and unfortunate and innocent people. 

' ' I must call Avitnesses less sensitive than I am to Irish sor- 
row to describe it to you. No, not to describe it, but to give 
you a faint and far-away outline of it. Or," rather, I shall call 
witnesses who feel, as keenly as I feel, the misery they depict, 
but who write ot it, as they wept of it, alone and unseen. 

" But before I summon them, let us make a rapid review of 
the immediate or physical causes of the famine. 

"You will see when I come to distribute the destitution by 
counties that the further we go west the denser becomes the 
misery. 

"The famine line follows neither the division lines of creeds 
nor the boundary lines of provinces. It runs from north to 
south, from a little east of the city of Cork in the south to Lon- 
donderry in the north, and it divides Ireland into two nearly 
equal parts. The nearer the coast the hungrier the people. 

"The westera half of Ireland, from Donegal to Cork, is moun- 
tainous and is beautiful. But its chmate is inclement ; it is 
scourged by the Atlantic storms ; it is wet in summer and 
bleak in winter, and the larger part of the soil is either barren 
and spewy bogs, or stony and sterile hills. 

"The best lands, in nearly every county, have been leased to 
Scotch and English graziers. For after the terrible famine of 
1847, when the Irish people staggered and fainted with hunger 
and fever into their graves, by tens of thousands and by hun- 
dreds of thousands, when the poor tenants, too far gone to 
have the strength to shout for food, faintly whispered for the 



356 History of Ireland. 

dear Lord's sake for a little bread, the landlords of the west 
answered these piteous moans by sending processes of ejectment 
to turn them out into the roadside or the poor-house to die, and 
by hiring crow-bar brigades to pull down the roof that had shel- 
tered the gasping people. As fast as the homeless peasants 
died or were driven into exile their little farms were rented out 
to British graziers. The people who could not escape were 
forced to take the wettest bogs and dryest hill-slopes.. These 
swamps and slopes were absolutely worthless. They could not 
receive enough to feed a snipe. By the patient toil of the peo- 
ple they were redeemed. Sea weed was brought on the backs 
of the farmers for miles to reclaim these lands. 

" The landlord did not spend one shilling to help the tenant. 
He did not build the cabin ; he did not fence the holding ; he did 
not drain the bog. In the west of Ireland the landlord does 
nothing but take rent. I beg the landlord's pardon ; I want to 
be perfectly just. The landlord does two things besides taking 
the rent. He makes the tenant pay the larger part of the taxes, 
and as fast as the farmer improves the land the landlord raises 
the rent. And whenever, from any cause, the tenant fails to 
pay the rent, the landlord turns him out and confiscates his im- 
provements. 

"The writers who combat Communism say that Communism 
means taking the property of other people without paying for 
it. From this point of view Ireland is a shocking example of 
the evils of Communism, for the Irish landlords of the west 
are Communists and the lineal descendants of a tribe of Com- 
munists. 

' ' The landlords charge so high a rent for these lands that even 
in the best of seasons the tenants can save nothing. To hide 
their own exactions from the execration of the human race, the 
landlords and their parasites have added insult to injury by 
charging the woes of Ireland to the improvidence of the people. 
Stretched on the rack of the landlord's avarice, one bad season 
brings serious distress to the tenant ; a second bad season takes 
away the helping hand of credit at the merchant's, and the third 
bad season beckons famine and fever to the cabin door. 



History of Ireland. 357 

" Now the summer of 1879 ^^^ ^^^ third successive bad sea- 
son. When it opened it found the people deeply in debt. 
Credit was stopped. But for the confidence of the shopkeepers 
in the honesty of the peasant, the distress would have come a 
year ago. It was stayed by the kind heart of the humble mer- 
chant. Therefore the landlords have charged the distress to the 
system of credit. 

"There was a heavy fall of rain all last summer. The turf 
was ruined. Two-thirds of the potato crop was lost, on an ave- 
rage, Jof the crop of all Ireland ; but, in many large districts of the 
west, not a single sound potato was dug. One half of the tur- 
nip crop perished. The cereal crop suffered, although to not so 
great an extent. There was a rot in sheep, in some places, and 
and in other places an epidemic among the pigs. The fisheries 
failed. The iron mines in the south were closed. Everything 
in Ireland seemed to have conspired to invite a famine. 

"But the British and American farmers were also the innocent 
causes of intensifying Irish distress. 

"In Donegal, Mayo, Galway and the Western Islands the 
small holders for generations have never been able to raise 
enough from their little farms to pay their big rents. They go 
over every spring by tens to thousands, to England and Scot- 
land, and hire to the farmers for wages. They stay there till the 
crops are harvested. But the great American competition is 
lowering the prices of farm produce in Great Britain and the 
prices of farm stock ; and, therefore, the English and Scotch 
farmers, for two or three years past, have not been able to pay 
the old wages to these Irish laborers. Last summer, instead of 
sending back'^ wages to pay the rent, hosts of Irish farm hands 
had to send for money to get back again. 

"These complex combinations of misfortune resulted in uni- 
versal distress. Everywhere, in the strictly agricultural re- 
gions of the west, the'farmers, and especially the small holders, 
suffered first, and then the distress spread out its ghoul-like 
wings till they overshadowed the shopkeepers, the artisans, the 
fishermen, the miners, and more than all, the laborers who had 



358 History of Ireland, 

no land but who had worked for the more comfortable class of 
farmers. 

"These malignant influences blighted every county in the 
west of Ireland, and these mournful facts are true of almost 
every parish in all that region. 

" Looking at the physical causes of the distress every honest 
and intelligent spectator will say that they are cowards and libel- 
lers who assert that the victims of the famine are in any way 
responsible for it. 

"Looking at the exactions of the landlords, none but a blas- 
phemer will pretend that the distress is an act of Providence. 

"I shall not attempt to point out the locality and density of 
distress in the different districts of the counties of Ireland. I 
could talk for two hours on each province and never repeat a 
single figure or fact. I must content myself by summoning to 
my aid the stern and passionless eloquence of statistics, and by 
showing you the numbers of the distressed in each county enable 
you to judge, each of you for yourself, how widespread is the 
misery and how deep. 

" Let us run rapidly over Ireland. We will begin with the 
least distressful province — the beautiful province of Leinster. 
Although Leinster contains one-fourth of the population of Ire- 
land it does not contain more than one-thirtieth part of the pres- 
ent distress. Leinster is the garden of Ireland. There is no 
finer country in the temperate zone. There is no natural reason 
why poverty should ever throw its blighting shadows athwart 
the green and fertile fields of Leinster, 

"There are. resident landlords in the rural districts of Leins- 
ter; and wherever in Ireland the owners of the soil live on their 
own estates, the peasantry, as a rule, are more justly dealt with 
than when they are left to the tiger mercy of the agent of the 
absentee. But it is not the fertile soil only, nor the presence of 
resident proprietors only, nor the proximity of markets only — 
nor is it these three causes jointly — that accounts for the absence 
of such a long procession of distress as the other provinces pre- 
sent. 

" In some of the fairest counties of Leinster, eviction has done 



History of Ireland. 359 

its perfect work. Instead of toiling peasants you find fat bul- 
locks; instead of bright eyed girls you find bleating sheep. 
After the famine of 1847, the men were turned out and the 
beasts were turned in. The British government cheered this 
infamy for Irishmen are rebels — sometimes ; but heifers are loyal 
— always. There is less distress in the rural districts of Leins- 
ter because there are fewer people there. 

"In the twelve counties of Leinster, there are 38,000 persons 
in distress — in Dublin, 250; in Wexford, 870; in King's county, 
1,047; i" Meath and Westmeath, 1,550 each; in Kildare, 1,567; 
in Kilkenny, 1,979; in Carlow, 2,000; in Louth, 3,050; in 
Queen's county, 4,743 ; in Wicklow, 5,450; in Longford, 9,557. 
In Carlow, in Westmeath, in Louth, and in one district of the 
Queen's county, the distress is expected to increase. In Kil- 
dare and in King's county it is not expected to increase. Now 
you see by this list hoAv moderate the returns are — how strictly 
thay are confined to famine or exceptional distress, as distin- 
guished from chronic or ordinary poverty ; because there are 
thousands of very poor persons in the city of Dublin, and yet 
there are only 250 reported as in distress in the entire county. 
They belong to the rural district of GlencuUen. Longford leads 
the Hst of distressed counties in Leinster. There are no resi- 
dent proprietors in Longford. Up to the ist of March not one 
of them had given a single shilling for the relief of the desti- 
tute on their estates. The same report comes from Kilkenny. 
The distress in Leinster is among the fishermen and small farm- 
ers and laborers. In Wicklow the fishers are kept poor because 
the government refuses to build harbors for their protection. In 
Westmeath ' the laboring class and the small farmers are in 
great distress. ' That is the report of the local committee, and 
I can confirm it by my personal observation. The province of 
Leinster contains one-fourth of the population of Ireland, but it 
does not contain more than one-thirtieth part of the prevailing 
distress. So I shall take you to one parish only — to Stradbally 
in the Queen's county. It is not included in the reports of the 
Mansion House Committee. [Mr. Redpath here read a letter 
from Dr. John Magee, P. P., Stradbally], and continued: 



360 History of Ireland. 

"■ Father Magee is not only a good Irish priest but a profound 
student of Irish history. Will you let me read to you what he 
wrote to me about the causes of Irish famines? 

" ' If I were asked,' he wrote, 'why is it that Ireland is so 
poor, with abundance of foreign grain and food in our ports, 
whence this famine that alarms even the stranger, my answer 
would be' — 

" Now listen : — 

" 'Speak as we may of short and scanty harvests the real 
cause is landlords' exactions, which drain the land of money, 
and which leave nothing to buy corn. 

"'Landlord absolutism and unrestrained rack rents have 
always been, and are at present, the bane and the curse of Ire- 
land. If the harvest be good, landlordism luxuriates and ab- 
stracts all; if scanty or bad, landlordism seizes on the rood and 
cattle for the rack rent. ' 

"This is the learned priest's accusation. Now let us listen to 
his speculations : — 

" 'I have in my own parish,' he says, 'five or six landlords 
-not the worst type of their class — two of them of Cromwell- 
ian descent, a third an Elizabethan, all enjoying the confiscated 
estates of the O'Moores, O'Lalors and O'Kellys, whose sons are 
now the miserable tenants of these estates — tenants who are 
paying, or trying to pay, 40, 80, and in some cases 120 per cent, 
over the government valuation of the land. Tenants who are 
treated as slaves and starved as beggars. If these tenants dare 
gainsay the will of the lord' — 

"Father Magee doesn't mean the will of Heaven, but the 
caprice of the landlord — 

" ' If they gainsay the will of the landlord, or even complain, 
they are victimized on the spot. This land system pays over 
from the sweat and toil of our inhabitants ^90,000,000 yearly 
to six or seven thousand landlords, who do nothing but hunt a 
fox or hunt the tenantry. ' 

"These good landlords, you know, have a 'wicked-partner,' 
and I want you to hear what Father Magee knows about the 
' wicked partner.' 



\ 



History of Ireland. 361 

"''The (British) government that upholds this cruel system 
abstracts thirty- five millions more from the land in imperial tax- 
ation, whilst there is left for the food, clothing and subsistence 
of five millions of people not more than $50,000,000, or about 
;^io per head yearly. ' 

" Isn't that just damnable ? 

" 'This is the system,' says Father Magee, 'that produces 
our periodical famines ; which shames and degrades us before 
Europe; which presents us, periodically, before the world as 
mendicants and beggars before the nations. * * * And 

will anyone blame us, cost what it may, if we are resolved to 
get rid of a system that has so long enslaved our people? ' " 



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